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Our news organization was a nonprofit a long time before our official transition to a 501(c)3 foundation in January. We were definitely not turning a profit, and paying our journalists became more difficult every month.
When the Pleasanton Weekly launched in 2000, the goal was to bring residents not just routine coverage, but the investigative journalism and analysis needed to make good decisions.
There was healthy competition with the Tri-Valley Herald and the East Bay Times. While they were reporting regional news, we were laser-focused on one community with five reporters and two editors.
Twenty-four years later we have three reporters and two editors covering five communities, the Times’ newsroom has been decimated and the Herald no longer exists.
The consequences of losing news organizations and journalists are devastating and should alarm people who believe in democratic values.
Advertising no longer supports the reporting resources necessary to do even basic meeting coverage, let alone investigative journalism and analysis. News organizations have closed, leaving “news deserts” – communities with little or no access to professional journalism and fact-based news coverage.
Others, like the Times’ parent company, have been purchased by hedge funds that don’t care about journalism or maintaining a strong press, which is essential to a strong democracy. They care about making money, so one of the first things they do when they buy a group is gut the newsroom, leaving behind understaffed ghost papers, publications that still exist but the quality and quantity of their news content have significantly declined.
We can’t do it without you.
While other news organizations are regrettably being dismantled, we are looking to the future. The transition to a nonprofit was the start of a long, arduous journey to rebuild a strong foundation for local news.
Our reporters and editors are working hard to keep our coverage consistent and quality high, but paying these journalists continues to be a challenge.
This is where you come in. The future of Embarcadero Media Foundation and local journalism relies on the community for its very existence.
If you believe as I do, that where local journalism thrives, democracy thrives, support independent news. If you feel a strong local press is imperative to an informed citizenry and healthy community, please consider becoming a member or making a one-time, tax-free donation today, as we enter our Spring Membership Drive. All contributions will be tripled up to $50,000 by two generous donors.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Gina Channell Wilcox
Embarcadero VP of Sales
President & Publisher, East Bay
Gina, before becoming a nonprofit, the Weekly was the journalism in this community. The Weekly provided an important part of this community’s appetite for local journalism. As a nonprofit, the Weekly created a void that impacted the communities’ appetite for local journalism. It eliminates community participation in the journalism, of local candidates running for local office.
Local community elective office positions have always been termed nonpolitical, with no political party affixation. How will you as the publisher of this nonprofit fill that void, and return that behavior to this community?