Needed: Champions For Local News
After 3 ½ years of working as a volunteer to help run the Sun, Tribune and other publications under Highway 29 Media, it is time for me to step away. I will retire completely from this volunteer role on May 31. I continue to work full time in public media nationally and those demands require my full-time attention and focus.
I first became involved in the effort to save the Sun and the Tribune in September 2022, when Sharon Stensaas and Pat Hampton issued similar pleas in the Sun and Tribune, respectively. Their call was simple but important: these communities needed people willing to step forward to preserve local news.
Today, we need that same commitment from community members again. We are looking for new local news champions who can bring time, resources, leadership, and a passion for community journalism to a new ownership group.
What began as an effort to save the Sun and the Tribune has grown into something broader. Since Highway 29 Media was formed, additional publications have launched, including Conéctate Napa County, a bilingual newsletter; the American Canyon Current, a weekly digital publication serving that community; and the Napa County Times, a countywide publication. Together, these publications and their websites now reach more than 6,000 subscribers, including a mix of paid and free subscribers.
When we put together a group at the end of 2022 and established Highway 29 Media to house the Sun and the Tribune, we knew operating small local publications would not be easy. The challenges are real: rising operating and printing costs, limited advertising support, and the need to shift more of the needed financial support to subscribers, donors, foundations, and major supporters. Across the country, many publications like ours receive 30% to 50% of their support from foundations and major donors.
With initial support of the Napa Valley Community Foundation, we were able to build a stronger base for these publications. We also established a companion nonprofit, the Napa Valley News Group, which enables direct tax-exempt donations in support of local journalism.
We also benefited from the Foundation’s support for a bilingual reporter, Mariela Gomez, who launched and was the editor of Conéctate. We have also been fortunate to work with journalism fellows and interns through the UC Berkeley Journalism program, most recently Griffin Jones, who is working on the American Canyon Current.
The team working on these publications is exceptional. Lisa Adams Walter as editor of the Sun, Danielle Wilde as editor of the Tribune. Sasha Paulsen, Kim Beltran, Xavey Bzdek, Christy Fitzpatrick-Webb, Lin Piña, Ellen Smith, Brian Webb, Debbie Lorell and many others have worked behind the scenes in countless ways to produce local news.
My sincere hope is that the Sun and the other publications can continue. They play an important role in each of the communities they serve. Local news matters, but it cannot survive without local support.
Anyone stepping into an ownership role should do so with a clear understanding of both the importance of this work and the financial realities involved.
I am deeply grateful to the readers, donors, advertisers, writers, editors, writers and community members who have supported this effort. Many volunteers have supported and hosted events, written columns and have dedicated countless hours to supporting the Sun. There is a long list of donors, volunteers, advertisers and others to thank – all reflecting the fact that local news depends on people who believe their towns are worth covering, their neighbors are worth hearing from, and their civic life is worth documenting. I hope someone — or, better yet, a group of people — will step forward to carry this work into its next chapter.
If you are interested in helping preserve local news in all or any of the communities we now serve (Yountville, Calistoga, American Canyon, Napa County and Conéctate), please drop me a note at [email protected].
