Times are getting darker for American journalism. That’s why I’m urging all of you to rally around the Chestnut Hill Local – recently named the state’s best weekly newspaper by the Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association – and give generously as our “Better Together” joint campaign with the Chestnut Hill Community Association nears its close.

The latest numbers, released in November, are frightening. According to a report from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, the nation’s local newspapers in 2023 died at an even faster rate than the year before. The average was 2.5 papers per week (130 papers closed or merged), up from two papers per week in 2022. Medill also reports that since 2005, the United States has lost nearly 2,900 newspapers, putting it on pace to lose one-third of all its newspapers by the end of next year. There are about 6,000 newspapers left, most of them weeklies like the Local. As part of that shrinkage, the country has lost almost two-thirds of its newspaper journalists, or 43,000, since 2005. 

Fortunately, not all is doom and gloom: Medill also highlighted what it called 17 “bright spots” – communities where news startups as well as legacy institutions are crafting for-profit and not-for-profit business models. One of those is here, where the Philadelphia Inquirer is the largest newspaper in the country under not-for-profit ownership. We are proud to report that the Inquirer’s owner, the Lenfest Institute, recently awarded $100,000 to the Chestnut Hill Local. The money is to be used to help us develop sustainable income streams.

But that grant must be accompanied by community support, so we need you to put us on your annual list of contributions or consider making a recurring monthly gift. Whether you contribute $25 or $25,000, please make a gift to our Better Together campaign today.

There’s more good news: Here in Chestnut Hill, thanks to very generous benefactors, our joint campaign recently received a $50,000 gift challenge. But it needs to be matched by Feb. 29. We must raise $35,000 more to meet this goal, which will take us just $25,000 away from our overall goal of $175,000.

Please help the Local keep shining as our own neighborhood bright spot. Don’t let the place it holds in your week become an empty spot, a vacancy, a hole. We bring you news and features that are informative and factual, all locally focused and professionally edited to sift out the rumors you see on social media. We also want to grow and expand our coverage in Northwest Philadelphia. Don’t let us become just another sad Medill statistic.

Please donate generously to the campaign and show that you agree that our stories deserve to be told and our readers deserve to be informed about our community.

Joel Barras

Better Together Campaign Co-Chair and Chestnut Hill Local Board President