After three years of serving the North Salem community, The North Salem Post will cease publication at the end of this month. Simply put, we do not have enough financial support to go on.
The North Salem Post has largely been a labor of love. I started it three years ago because I believed this town needed more than it was getting in the way of local journalism, and I had a passion to report and tell stories. My husband, Ben, quickly volunteered his immense talents as a photographer and our upstart publication was off and running. Over the next few years, at least half a dozen big-hearted folks came aboard for various stints as either freelancers or interns, but by and large it’s been a mom-and-pop, part-time operation. We’ve been hanging on by a thread.
I have three active kids and a full-time job, but I have continued to publish The North Salem Post in the margins of my time because I have largely found the work of reporting, writing and publishing to be incredibly rewarding. Businesses have told me customers came into their stores for the first time because of a story written about them in The North Salem Post. Aspiring artists have seen doors of opportunity open to them because we shone a light on their work. I never could have imagined what this publication would have grown into, how it would have helped me grow as a person and a community member, and how rewarding it would be to get to be the one to introduce readers to so many amazing people we get to call our neighbors.
The story of a local news outlet closing is, sadly, not unique. Even if my sole responsibility was running a news operation, trying to keep a local news business afloat in this day and age would have been a near impossible climb. The challenges of operating a media business have been very, very well documented (if you want to learn more about those challenges, read this, this and this). Or, just know that widespread layoffs have happened–in the past month alone–at publications ranging from large, national outlets like The Washington Post and The Los Angeles Times, to several local publications right here in Westchester (more on that here).
Very few news publications have figured out a business model that works in the digital age. At The North Salem Post, our business has been wholly reliant on community support. To date, that support has included local businesses advertising, individual residents making one-time or monthly contributions, sponsored content (articles written and paid for by a local business), and/or featured events (local businesses paying to highlight an upcoming event). To those who have contributed in any of those ways – thank you! We made it as long as we did because of you. Still, the truth is that if a community doesn’t show a strong willingness to pay for news, local news cannot survive.
I do want to thank the local businesses who faithfully supported us over the past few years, even as they faced tight post-pandemic budgets of their own. Some are past and some are current advertisers, but each of these businesses’ owners saw the power and the value of local news, and carved out a small sum each month to help our community be more informed. These include: Carminucci Wealth Management (a Croton Falls-based financial firm that has been our top advertiser since nearly Day One), General Bakeshop, The Blazer Pub, O2 Living in Cross River, Envirostar, Railyard Arts Studio, St. James Episcopal Church, St. Lawrence O’Toole, and Jessica Broomhead from Compass Realty. Please consider supporting these businesses and organizations that have shown a true willingness to invest in this community.
I also want to thank our ‘advisory board’ of local residents who made time to meet with me, especially in the early days of this publication, to talk through the ins and outs of getting an untested news outlet off the ground. Thank you to Vin Farrell, Ali Jolley and Lulu Pelosi. Your support, encouragement and guidance were invaluable.
This publication would not have entered into the public consciousness without the stunning imagery provided by my husband Ben Allen of HudValley Photo. When I started the North Salem Post, I asked him to drive around town and take a few pictures of local landmarks in case I were to need them for stories. As anyone who has followed us over the last three years, he did that and so, so much more. If there was a town parade, a fall festival, a high school sporting event, Ben was there faithfully. He would come racing from his day job, take the photos and edit them that same day so that I could publish a story in time for the next morning’s 6:00 a..m. newsletter. Ben’s imagery brought our town to life in ways that words never could.
Since we launched, several local women raised their hands and asked how they could get involved with writing for the North Salem Post. Perhaps you read Fran Havard’s well-researched words about the school district, before she became a Board of Ed trustee. Or Christine Carpenter’s beautiful profiles of women-owned businesses, all of which she wrote in the margins of her own time in early motherhood. Or Lauren Rankel’s profiles of the fascinating people who we are fortunate enough to call our neighbors. Beth Malvino wrote data-driven stories about health and safety. Pam Pooley helped us think differently about the natural world, and how to better care for and appreciate it. And Pamela Brown’s monthly book columns highlighted the treasure that is the Ruth Keeler Library. Each of these women brought a unique perspective and helped diversify the types of stories we were able to tell.
I can’t tell you the number of people who have approached me in town–at school sporting events, at the library; at Board of Ed meetings, at J.B. Park–to tell me how much they appreciate this publication. Maybe they discovered a new artist because of one of our stories, met a neighbor they would never have had the chance to meet otherwise, or learned something new about how our town and schools operate. This feedback kept me going when I felt overwhelmed, burned out, and like I could not go on (and honestly, that was often).
These little anecdotes proved that we were doing something good, important and worthwhile. We were helping stitch together a sense of community in a town that doesn’t even have a Main Street. But positive feedback doesn’t support a business. Financials do. And we could not generate enough in small business, individual or donor support to keep this publication afloat.
If there is someone, or better yet, a group of someones–in or around town that has a passion and some amount of experience in news, and wants to take the torch and give it a go, my door, my ears and my heart are open. I’m as sad as anyone to see this dream of mine end. But I know my limits, and I am a realist. I can proudly say I gave as much of myself to this project as I could possibly give.
Building The North Salem Post changed my life in so many positive ways. I hope, if nothing else, it changed yours in some small way, too.
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