Our Mission
The Athens County Independent empowers community engagement through accessible public service journalism.
Our Vision
We will be Athens County’s trusted, go-to news source, empowering all residents to drive change toward a more fair, connected and participatory community.
Our Values
- Empowerment. Free, comprehensive local journalism supports a thriving democracy and community.
- Respect. Our coverage is fair, inclusive, and respectful of all residents’ experiences — countering destructive narratives about Appalachia.
- Accessibility. We present complex information in a way everyone can understand for free.
- Accuracy. We recognize what we don’t know, and if we make a mistake, we’ll own it. Objectivity is a method for gathering and reporting the news. Where there’s bullshit, we’ll call bullshit.
- Independence. Our reporting is independent from advertisers, funders, and authorities.
- Fun. Because!
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Athens County Independent?
We’re an independent, nonprofit, locally governed and operated news source for Athens County, established in 2022.
Why did you launch the Independent?
Thousands of newspapers have closed around the U.S. since 2008. We’re left with news deserts — communities with no local news at all — and ghost newspapers that don’t have enough journalists to report effectively. We’ve seen that happen right here in Athens County and across southeast Ohio.
We started the Independent to bring high-quality local journalism back to Athens County. We’re among over 400 independent nonprofit newsrooms started in the last 12 years, and part of the fastest-growing segment: local news.
Compared to legacy media, this is a new model … but it’s been around for a couple of decades. In a way, we’re bringing news back to its roots: locally controlled and operated, and dedicated to the well-being of the community.
What makes the Independent different?
We are 100% local. Our staff and board are all longtime or lifelong residents of southeastern Ohio. We don’t answer to a distant corporation that neither knows nor cares about Athens County. We answer to you, our community.
News for people, not for profit. Journalism is a public good that benefits all members of the community. With that mission in mind, we established the Independent as a nonprofit. That means that all profits go back into fulfilling that mission, not to shareholder or owner dividends. It also makes us a community trust that cannot be sold.
Investing in quality. Informative, high-quality reporting can’t be done by a single person or two. We’re investing in people (local people!) who have the time, resources and experience to do journalism right.
Trust through transparency. We’re an open book, from our lists of donors and sponsors to clear explanations of how we work. Anything you want to know, we’re happy to spill.
Inclusive and in-depth. A good news source isn’t just who, what and when. (We’re journalists, not stenographers.) We give you the how and why behind the story so you have everything you need to make informed decisions and conclusions. And we aim to represent the entirety of Athens County, ensuring that everyone’s stories get told.
Nonpartisan. Period. As a nonprofit entity, we are legally prohibited from advocating for or against anything. We strive to be fair — if you think we’ve failed on that point, let us know so we can explain or fix it.
How do you make money?
Nonprofit newsrooms rely on direct community support through donations and memberships, as well as earned revenue such as sponsorships and local advertising. The money we make goes back into the enterprise to enhance and expand our mission. Support correlates directly to quality: The more you give, the more we can do.
What’s the difference between a subscriber and a member?
We don’t have paywalls or otherwise make you pay for news. In addition to publishing stories on our website, we send weekly newsletters that bring the latest information directly to your inbox. When you sign up to receive our newsletters, you become a subscriber.
Instead of charging for news, we rely on our community for financial support. When you make a monthly or annual gift to the Independent, you become a member — a vital, valued part of the Indy team.
Will you ever have a printed newspaper?
Printed news is expensive. We figure that printing 3,000 copies of a 16-page tabloid every week would cost upwards of $50,000 per year. (At our current pay rates, that’s 1.5 staff members.) We could charge for printed copies … but that means even more money for equipment and staff time in collection and subscriber management.
But we’re not saying never. We know that many people like a printed newspaper, and that print is likely the only way for many in our community to access news, given the state of internet and cell service in these parts. So we’re always thinking about how to fill that need without breaking the bank. If you have an idea, we’d love to hear it!
What’s with the possum?
That’s Scoop, our mascot! We’re doing something different, so we wanted an icon that was different from your everyday nameplate — something that reflected who we are. Appalachia has lots of amazing native animals, like the red fox, the box turtle and the hellbender. But we chose Didelphis virginiana because its characteristics are a good match for ours.
One of a kind. Opossums are the United States of America’s only native marsupial. Like us, they are homegrown and unique!
Resistant to poison. Opossums are highly resistant to rabies and immune to most snake venom. You won’t see us foaming at the mouth or falling prey to insidious influence, either.
Fighting parasites. Opossums repel ticks — bloodsucking, disease-carrying parasites. We counteract misinformation and BS that infects our public conversation.
Keeping it clean. Opossums are scavengers, vital to maintaining a clean environment. By monitoring power, we shine a light into the darkest corners of public institutions—and spotlight the good stuff, too.
Highly adaptive. Opossums are highly adaptable to changes in habitat. We’re proof that good journalism can thrive anywhere!
