Athens County is one of just 57 counties in central Appalachia that has at least one source of local news. Meigs and Gallia counties are among the 200 central Appalachian counties with no local news source at all.
If we hadn’t launched the Independent two and half years ago, Athens County would be in the same boat as Vinton, Perry and Washington counties — with local newspapers gutted to the point that they barely qualify as local news sources.
We’ve achieved more in such a short time than we expected. But we want to do so much more: regular coverage of school board and village council meetings; dedicated beats for education, business, infrastructure, the arts, and sports; living wages for all our staff. And we want to help our neighboring counties start their own versions of the Independent so those communities have the same high-quality reporting that we’re delivering here in Athens County.
Doing so requires a level of funding that, frankly, is likely beyond what southeast Ohio residents can bear.
So I’m thrilled by today’s announcement that the MacArthur Foundation is investing $750,000 in the Rural News Fund, a program of Press Forward Central Appalachia. The fund aims to raise $1 million a year for the next three years so it can provide capital, technical assistance and research for outlets like the Independent across the region.
I can’t overstate the importance of this initiative. Lack of capital is probably the greatest barrier facing news startups in rural areas. Our populations are smaller and poorer, which limits our funding potential from donations, advertising and philanthropy. (The Cleveland Foundation’s endowment is 250 times larger than the Athens County Foundation’s!)
Folks in Appalachia know that no one is coming to save us. It’s up to us to address our challenges, and that’s the great thing about the Rural News Fund — it’s an initiative for Appalachia by Appalachians.
In fact, the fund has Athens County fingerprints all over it. Kerry Pigman, executive director of the Athens County Foundation encouraged the Appalachia Funders Network and Invest Appalachia to support local news outlets like the Independent. (Both the foundation and Invest Appalachia have provided significant financial support to us. 🥰) Press Forward Central Appalachia and the MacArthur grant would not have happened without the tireless advocacy of Eli Flournoy of Media Growth Partners — an Athens High School graduate and the Independent’s biggest cheerleader.
And at the risk of gettin’ above our raisin’, the Independent has played a big part, too. We have demonstrated that nonprofit independent news can succeed in rural America. The Athens County Independent is known nationwide by industry leaders and our journalism colleagues (who recently elected me to the board of the Institute for Nonprofit News!)
That, my friends, is because of you. Yes, our team is amazing. 🥳But without your support — your donations, your advertising, your news tips, your suggestions — we would not exist. You put Athens County on the nonprofit news map. We never forget that, and neither should you.
P.S. We’re well on our way to our goal of raising $30,000 during the NewsMatch campaign, with just 19 days left. We still need 23 more first-time donors to qualify for a $1,000 bonus, so if you’ve never donated to us before, now is a good time. 😁
