Journalism update

To a writer crafting a story about local media in Charlottesville

It's been a stressful time with national and local crises and so many people splitting the difference and angry at the state.  I will answer all of your questions even though I know it's a bit late.  

Why did you start your podcast and newsletter?
Ten months ago when the pandemic hit, I wanted to learn as much as I could about what was happening. I was not a journalist. With blessings from my employer, I launched a podcast to capture the local and state responses. With everything shut down, there was plenty of time. I had all of this audio equipment laying around from earlier in my career, when I was a public radio reporter and the creator of the Charlottesville Podcasting Network. I fell back on old skills and suddenly I was cranking out a podcast with information! 

In the summer of 2020, when things were in the "new normal" I got distracted by work, and felt a need to get back to journalism. My time as a freelancer and entrepreneur ran out in the mid 2000's for various reasons, including getting a full-time job as a journalist. In 2020, though, I was aware of new ways of getting revenue directly from people interested in learning about the community. Initial interest was enough to help me take a leap of faith.   

What do you offer that might not be found from other local news options?

My hope is to amplify the work of the many people who are writing about this community. There are some issues I am interested in documenting in detail, as I think getting the information in the public record is key to the future's ability to understand where we were, right now. I also bring years of experience covering municipal government, and a renewed interest in documenting how this community gets through the next set of challenges. I can't do this work alone, and I don't have to because there's a lot of talent here.  And a lot of people who aren't writing yet, but hopefully soon will be. 

Your Patreon account says you have 75 patrons. Is that enough to live on?

That's just one of many sources of revenue. What I am doing is an experiment, but I've spent a lifetime in customer service. I ran a business before, and survived off of a freelance career. I try to market the Patreon account for people who want to fund basic research into local government. There's also the Substack platform, as well as sponsorship opportunities. The audience is growing slowly, and I've demonstrated I'm here to do this work. I've produced over 130 newsletters now, and every day I get more efficient at finding ways to pay for me to do this work. My hope is to be able to hire people in the future, and train younger people in the kind of civic journalism I believe every American community deserves to help restore our democracy. 

How many people follow you?
I don't want to give out the circulation numbers yet, but I can state I have 4,550 Twitter followers! Currently around 500 people read each newsletter. A lot of people I do not know are paid subscribers now, and I thank every single one and write a note saying how appreciative I am. This is an experiment and I'm pleased so far that this leap of faith is still in the air!  

What are the odds of survival for local print media?

Good question, and I can't speak to that. I know I seldom pick up a print piece of anything. I read the Progress digitally, and appreciate that we still have a newspaper of record. I hope that print picks back up in popularity. I don't pick up C-Ville like I used to because I'm at home most of the time right now. I do know how much I appreciate picking up print publications and reading them. You can learn so much about a community by reading the ads, and I so hope print can continue to survive. I would like to return to a time when Sunday mornings are spent going through a thick newspaper, but the reality is that so many of us want to know what's  happening right now. 

Yet, maybe this is a time for zines? My friend Ramona Martinez and some of her colleagues just made one to get out voices that aren't represented in the media out there. When we come out of this pandemic, we enter a new time in a way. People want copies of information. We've seen what relying on digital only does to our community. Holding her zine in my hand right now, it's a physical manifestation of thought and artistic practice. Work went into this, and that work needs a wider audience. 

Anything else I should know?  

I thank you for allowing me to write this out. This is a stressful time for all of us, but I think through community journalism we can figure each other out and learn ways to live together. That's really all I've ever wanted to do as a journalist.