We’re chipping in to bring our local paper, The Independent, back in 2023!
From Pat Davis, the new publisher of The Independent:
The Independent is the last local newspaper standing to cover the East Mountains, Edgewood and Torrance County. After 20 years of fierce independent journalism, Leota Harriman, the longtime publisher and editor, announced it would close in December without a new publisher.
After some friends and I had stepped in to keep two other local New Mexico-owned papers going, Leota asked if we could help her save The Independent, too. As a long-time fan of the paper and after looking at all the stories worth telling that Albuquerque’s big media outlets will never cover, I agree it’s worth saving and we have a plan to do it.
To keep The Independent going during and since COVID, the owner and staff have been transparent about working without pay and sometimes skipping paying bills. But the paper always came, until this past month when lingering health issues and rising costs forced them to close.
I can’t stand to see one of my favorite local papers go away, so I offered to help — and I’m hoping you feel the same way.
We’re asking readers to step up to help us get this started, but we’re not asking you to do it alone.
How you can help.
We need to raise $15,400 to help pay a few reporters who skipped a check, pay off some leftover bills after the last issue printed, and bring Leota and her team of local, independent journalists back in 2023.
To get started, we’re putting in $5,000 to meet the first payroll and pay the printer. And our friends at the New Mexico Local News Fund are matching up to $5000 of reader donations before the end of 2022.
That means your $100 donation to save our local paper is worth $300 towards our goal. $500 is worth $1500, getting us there even faster.
As an added incentive, here’s what you get for becoming one of our #SaveTheIndependent donors:
- A free 3-month subscription for any donation of $100 or more
- A dollar-for-dollar advertising credit for any small business donating to support our small business (your $250 donation is worth $250 in free ads!)
- Recognition in a future issue with a special thanks for being a first donor
If we meet our goal, we’ll return The Independent to mailboxes and newsstands in January.
A local newspaper is a true community essential business. Will you be one of the loyal local news supporters who helps us save it?
Here’s a donate link for text only browsers.
Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for loving and helping us save local news.
Pat Davis
Ctrl+P Publishing Co., at newmexico.news
PS – In case you are curious, we’re already working on adding some new features to The Independent for 2023, including:
- Expanding community submissions and commentary on local issues Albuquerque-based big news outlets don’t cover
- Restoring weekly coverage of and Edgewood Town Council, and Torrance County Commission meetings
- Adding Bernalillo and Santa Fe County Commission news (including zoning and building permits) impacting the East Mountains
- Adding monthly reports from the Village of Tijeras and Town of Mountain Air and Estancia as well as USFS updates
- Expanding community submissions and commentary on local issues Albuquerque-based big news outlets don’t cover
“Once a community loses a local paper, it can never be replaced,” says Pat Davis. “Saving The Independent is a rescue mission to save one of the last great local newspapers in New Mexico. We know Albuquerque news outlets will never cover news east of the mountains, so we have to invest in ourselves and that is exactly what The Independent will keep doing with a little help.”