It has been several weeks since our last update about the health of the newspaper. Friends, neighbors, community partners and others might have concluded that our financial challenges are behind us. That’s not the case. I mentioned in a past message that our turnaround would not be like an episode of CSI where everything was wrapped up in an hour. With the trifecta of more and more newspapers in the United States announcing closures every week, the allure of free news from social media, and a slowdown in advertising as the economy cools, producing a financially sustainable small community newspaper is not for the faint of heart.

In January, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette announced $350 million in losses over two decades and said it will cease publication May 3. While our losses and debt are not in the millions for the Chestnut Hill Local, and we are making headway, our challenges to cover our expenses and debt still persist.

We have and continue to make difficult decisions. What is unchanged is our mission to provide a weekly printed Chestnut Hill Local and quarterly magazine (Wissahickon magazine) with valuable content to residents, businesses and institutions for northwest Philadelphia and southeast Montgomery County. Yes, we are investigating digital preferences but our hearts are rooted in print and we often hear passionate feedback to keep a printed edition alive. We take that for granted as an assumption, but with questions about our future strategy, it’s time to unequivocally put that on the record. Until there is overwhelming preference for paid digital news and content, a printed edition of the Chestnut Hill Local is here to stay in addition to our website and social media.

We have partnered with Lenfest to conduct market research in our geographic catchment areas. We should receive feedback on the survey from Lenfest in mid-February and begin to work on related strategies which will only make us stronger.

Our headcount expenses are our largest expense category. We have made the difficult decision to leverage our current technology partner for production services for the newspaper. Blaise Brugger and his team have been the layout wizards for bringing you the paper week after week but the Chestnut Hill Local has been one of the last holdouts with in-house production departments. The Philadelphia Inquirer and others elected to outsource this work long ago. We will begin transitioning in February with the final transition by March 1.

Anticipated rising health care costs for 2026, which would have nearly doubled our health care expenses, have put further pressure on the paper. We have switched employee health care providers and made other health care changes in order to limit this impact.

Our investments in our editorial team — that’s our young reporters Tommy Tucker (neighborhood news), Maggie Dougherty (digital and features) and Abby Weiss (environmental reporting) — continue to yield community connections that we know are important to our institutional partners and readers. That consistency reflects our commitment to be a trusted and knowledgeable news source. As they grow in their areas of coverage, we have been able to reduce our use of freelance writers. We are working with Temple University and the Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association to bring interns to the Chestnut Hill Local this semester and the summer, and are looking for grants or donors to cover these salaries so they are cost neutral to the newspaper. Our hope is that these interns will provide consistency to our coverage of institutional partners and other community news you have come to expect from us. We are most excited about the possibility of attracting an intern trained by Temple University on the latest digital tools, practices and community engagement.

While on the subject of our editorial team, you may have noticed that our beloved Len Lear has been unusually quiet in the pages of the Chestnut Hill Local and our features section. Len is okay now but suffered a heart attack in November after a fire in his house. At 85 years of age, and post heart surgery and rehab, there is no stopping Len. If you would like to stop by our office (8434 Germantown Ave.) and sign one of our many get well cards for him, please do so this month. We are sure they will boost Len’s spirits. For now, if you have potential features stories to share, please direct them to Maggie (margaret@chestnuthilllocal.com).

Rounding out the editorial team, Donna Shaw will continue to volunteer her time to guide the reporters at least through the end of March, with Deputy Editor Kristin Holmes supporting the group. Regular Chill Local contributors Michael Caruso and Hugh Hunter, along with Tom Utescher will continue to bring music, arts and sports alive.

We are working on plans to generate revenue, improve our collections practices and fundraise to boost our sustainability. On this front, first, we will be introducing a Friends of the Chestnut Hill Local proposal to key community stakeholders and asking them to take on four-week sponsorship commitment of the paper. Second, we are looking to boost our award-winning lifestyle Wissahickon magazine for greater impact in Northwest Philadelphia and to compete with Main Line Today. The magazine has been growing in popularity since its inception in 2021 and we believe it has greater potential to reach a larger geography of advertisers to help us generate revenue through ad sales and circulation. Current CHCA members and newspaper subscribers receive their issues with the newspaper. Chestnut Hill Local’s former editor Carla Robinson has agreed to join us as the Wissahickon magazine editor, devoting her energies to growing this endeavor; her time at the helm of the magazine will start with our summer issue. Our free Explore magazine with its seasonal event listings for northwest Philadelphia will be folded into pages of Wissahickon magazine to further focus our efforts.

Third, we are doubling down on growing our advertising appeal, outreach and sampling. We are very thankful for our friends and supporters who have stepped up their advertising commitments or who have joined us for the first time as advertisers.

Your unwavering support has meant the world to us and helps us know that our efforts to provide news and share advertising messages as a trusted voice in our community is valued.

Our Chestnut Hill Local Emergency Appeal has raised more than $100,000 to date, which has been spent and allowed us to get a handle on our current debt owed to vendors. We have cut nonessentials and noncore items with laser focus. While we still have more progress to make so each pay period is not a juggling game and to pay our vendors, we are inching forward. In coming months, we hope to finalize state grant funding that could offset our 2026 technology expenses; we appreciate our vendor partners for working with us as we structure our payment arrangements and realize the efficiencies of their services, systems and workflows.

Looking ahead, 2026 is a pivotal year for the Chestnut Hill Local. We continue to need your support. If you would like to contribute to our appeal, please use our CHCA–Chestnut Hill Local Emergency Appeal link at Chestnuthill.org to make a donation. If you would like to learn more about our Friends of the Chestnut Hill Local, please reach out to me at info@chestnuthill.org.