Thank You for Keeping the Herald Here and Healthy

A few weeks ago, I asked Herald supporters and readers to help the Herald remain as it is, where it is.

We asked Herald readers to buy subscriptions or donate to a Print Fund. All contributions, while not tax-deductible, will help the Herald serving the Cove and printing on paper. We set a goal of $50,000, which will cover about 36 weeks of printing the Herald.

I promised transparency and regular reports, so here is the first report.

About 14 people, couples or organizations have responded directly and generously to my request. It’s been a combination of buying subscriptions and donations to the Print Fund.

Some Herald supporters asked to remain anonymous, but here are those who did not:

• Hiram and Dana Carpenter

• W. Dwight and Debra Straesser

• Emily Corle

• Reuben and Martha Newswanger

• L. Jane Dibert

• Lawrence Diehl

• Dot Nead

• Daryl and Gloria Hartman

• Bev Leppert

• David Illig

• James Dubbs

• Sullivan Law

Thank you. Each of you has helped ensure that the Herald will not meet the fate as hundreds of other community newspapers across the country and be forced to cut back or close. The Washington Post reported in 2021 that since 2005, about 2,200 local newspapers across America had closed. More have closed since then. Many communities like the Cove have lost their only local news source.

When local newspapers close, the community that they covered have to rely on organizations outside the community for news. Often, this means that a community’s local news is reduced to a few minutes on a regional television station’s broadcast, or an occasional story in a large newspaper. Often, the news coverage degenerates into “parachute journalism.” That’s when a reporter from an outside news organization drops into town only when something negative happens, writes about it and then leaves. You can see how this is different from what the Herald does.

For the Herald, our main expenses are the Three Ps: People, Printing and Postage. The cost of each of these has increased significantly over the past few years.

For the Herald specifically, that means that we’ve had to do more with less. We still print and mail a Herald edition every week, meaning that 52 times a year, we put a Herald in your hands or at a newsstand where you can buy it.

Making up the difference

Another relevant bit of background to put all this in perspective: The price that you pay for a subscription to the Herald, or the dollar that you hand over for a newsstand copy, doesn’t come close to covering the cost of actually getting a copy of the Herald into your hands.

If we charged what it actually costs to provide a Herald to a subscriber, an annual subscription would be more than $300.

So how do we make up the difference between $42 and $300? Advertising. Local businesses and people who buy ads in the Herald cover the difference between what we charge for the Herald and what it actually costs to produce it.

Please thank our local businesses and classified-ad buyers for supporting community journalism for the Cove.

Lack of resources

The Washington Post article that I referenced noted that, “In many places where papers still exist, a lack of resources prevents them from reporting thoroughly on issues vital to the community — issues like public safety, education and local politics.”

What we at the Herald are trying to avoid is what has happened to many other small newspapers across the country. Specifically:

• We’d like to keep printing the Herald 52 times a year. We would like to avoid having to cut back the number of editions that we produce each year.

• We’d like to keep printing the Herald on paper. We’d like to avoid having to go to only an online edition. We’re well aware of how much that would affect our subscribers, many of whom strongly prefer the print edition.

• We’d like to keep our staffing where it is, so we have enough dedicated employees to bring you the Herald each week.

We need your help

With all respect to those who understand the importance of the Cove having its own community newspaper, I am asking you to please:

1. If you don’t have one already, please purchase a subscription to the Herald. If you have a subscription, please consider extending it by buying additional years. Or give a gift subscription to someone who will appreciate it.

2. Please donate to the Herald to help us cover our printing costs. Every dollar that we receive will be put directly toward the cost of printing the Herald each week. We pledge to be transparent and open about the amount that we receive and how we use it. We will publish a list of those Herald supporters who help (unless you wish to be anonymous).

Our goal is $50,000, which will cover about 36 weeks of printing the Herald.

To subscribe:

1. Mail a check to 209 S. Walnut St., Martinsburg, PA 16662. One year is $42 through the end of the year.

2. Call (814) 793-2144 to pay with a credit card.

3. Go to the website at http://www.mcheraldonline.com, scroll to the bottom of the page and click on “Subscribe.”

To donate directlyto our Printing Fund:

1. Mail a check to 209 S. Walnut St., Martinsburg, PA 16662. Please note that your donation is for the Herald’s Printing Fund.

2. Call us at (814) 793-2144 to make a donation with a credit card.

Donations to the Herald will be gratefully accepted but are not tax-deductible.

The Cove as a news desert?

Yes, we are asking you for direct help, if you value the Herald and what it provides to the community.

That Washington Post article noted, “Because when we lose local journalism, we lose a fabric that holds together communities; we lose crucial information that allows democracy to function; and at the most basic level, we lose stories that need to be told.”

Thank you for reading, and thank you for your support of the Herald and community journalism.

More information

If you’d like more information about how local newspapers are vanishing and why, please check out https://www.usnewsdeserts.com

If you’d like to read the Washington Post article that I quoted, you can find it at https://www.washingtonpost.com/magazine/interactive/2021/local-news-deserts-expanding/

If you’d like to chat with me about this or any other matter related to the Herald and its place in the community, please call me at (814) 793-2144. If I’m not in, please leave your name and number and a good time to call you back and I will.