Dear Readers:
Thanks to the approximately 80 attendees who participated in our “How Local News Supports Strong Communities” event at the Edmonds Waterfront Center last week.
Our reporters appreciated the chance to speak directly with you, and we were inspired by all the great ideas shared in our breakout sessions. These included a request to do more health reporting, to do a deep dive into the public safety implications of light rail stations opening later this year and a request for inclusion of more diverse voices and topics in our publications.
We are taking all of these to heart as we prepare our work plan for 2024 and beyond.
And here’s a recap of the top 10 priorities identified, based on dots placed on poster boards of subjects submitted by readers during our nonprofit news launch event last summer:
1) Investigative reporting.
2) Coverage of elected officials.
3) Continuation of strong local news (especially government).
4) Inclusion of diverse thoughts and views.
5) More news about nonprofits.
6) A monthly interview with the mayor.
7) Help our conmunities better understand what our local government does.
8) Advance notice of community events and festivals.
9) Stories about quality-of-life issues. What is being done to to make this a better community for everyone.
10) More history — buildings, characters, businesses, artists/musicians/writers.
Two reminders:
We have a form here for readers who want to share their ideas for building our nonprofit news organization.
Support us as we expand our coverage of South Snohomish County issues of importance to our readers. You can donate at this link.
Help us build it!
Teresa Wippel.
President and CEO, and founding publisher
My Neighborhood News Network
(Photos by Nick Ng and Chris Walton)
So sorry I missed this (skiing in Whistler). I absolutely respect the work of our local reporters and love browsing the Edmonds News while sipping my coffee in the mornings. Special thanks to Teresa Wippel for pulling all of this together and being a leading voice for local media and beyond. We are so lucky to have you.
Really sorry I missed this; I was out of town. Also sorry it was not recorded. This was a great story on the event as I’ve come to expect of MyEdmondsNews. I especially liked the top 10 priorities for coverage.
In a world where many “news” sources have been increasingly going to a tactic of presenting “the news” from an editorial viewpoint based on ownership values and a specific political viewpoint; this publicly owned Neighborhood approach is a breath of fresh air. The dividing line between news and propaganda has become less and less defined and that plus the advent of AI being infused with the propaganda is a dangerous development against the ideal of maintaining our democratic way of life. The public ownership of the free press may be our last bastion of defense against the increasing flirtation with totalitarianism and censorship that’s going on right now in our U.S. of A. Beware of anyone who tells you, “the Press is the enemy” because it’s mainly a fear of the free press that keeps us free to say what we really think and be able hold our leaders accountable for their actions.
Thanks for all you do. I like the laundry list on the “white board/bucher paper. How about adding coverage of some of the city government depts and their high priority (specific) 2024 tasks. Start with Public Works.