Will you chip in to support our nonprofit newsroom with a donation today?
Yes, I want to support My MLTnews!
It’s 8:30 p.m. on Sunday and I’m doing what I usually do — reviewing our news coverage for the coming week. It’s a challenge because our publications include vibrant communities with no shortage of events to cover, good works to publicize and government meetings to monitor.
But then, my eyes wander to a link a co-worker sent earlier this week — one that I’ve been avoiding. It’s the latest research from the Pew Institute on how much people value local news.
What do you want first — the good news…or the bad news?
The “good news” is actually a mixed bag.
“A large majority of U.S. adults (80%) say that local news outlets are at least somewhat important to the well-being of their local community,” Pew reports. “There has been a recent decline in the share of Americans who say their local news outlets are extremely or very important: 34% say this in 2025, compared with 44% who said the same a year prior.
Now for the bad news:
“The vast majority of Americans (88%) say they have not paid or given money to any local news source in the past year, whether by subscribing, donating or becoming a member. Just 12% say they have done this.”
12%.
This tracks with our donor list that includes a few thousand people across our coverage area of nearly 200,000. And while the My Neighborhood News Group has seen financial growth since we converted to nonprofit status nearly three years ago, we need more readers to step up.
Pew reports that “half say the main reason they do not pay for local news is because they can find plenty of it for free. About three-in-ten (29%) say their main reason is that they’re not interested enough to pay for it. Another 10% say it’s too expensive, and 9% say that the news available to them is not good enough to pay for.”
I sincerely believe that our readers value what we do. But I’m not sure they value it enough to pay for it. Do you?
We have a core group of donors who give us $10 or $20 a month. Some give one-time donations of a larger amount, or they donate stock or even a car. Any amount or type of donation is greatly appreciated — and it goes directly to support our work. That includes our talented reporters, photographers, editors, marketing and technical support folks. It also helps us pay for web hosting, graphic design, insurance and all the myriad expenses related to running a nonprofit newsroom.
We are in the middle of our Spring Into Action for Local News fundraising campaign, with a $10,000 match available for donations received by April 30.
There are two easy ways to participate: text localnews to 50155 or visit our online donation page here.
We literally cannot do this work without you — so I invite you to give generously.
Sincerely,
Teresa Wippel, Founder, President and CEO
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