— by Lin McNulty —
The best part of writing for Orcas Issues, other than the actual doing and writing, is hearing, over and over again, how much our work is appreciated. A few recent encounters have involved our valued readers saying, “Orcas Issues is the best news source out there,” or “I read Orcas Issues first thing every morning,” or simply, “I love what you do,” along with many heartwarming “thank yous.”
The absolute worst part of writing for Orcas Issues is having to ask for financial support. I despise it. It’s embarrassing. It’s a difficult conundrum to be successful in what we do and yet to be struggling financially.
Rachel Maddow grabbed my attention when she began a recent segment talking about just this issue, urging local journalism readers to support local news, to “go online to read it at their website. Go on. Go on. Go on. Do it. Go on,” she stressed.
“If we don’t pay money to support the jobs of people who report the news where you live, then those people will lose their jobs. And when the people whose job it is to report the news where you live, when they lose those jobs, that means the news where you live doesn’t get reported any more.
“And the news itself doesn’t stop happening. There will still be crime, and accidents, and disasters, and births and deaths, and sports games, and elections and corruption and scandals. But who will report them?
“The firing of local reporters, the waning of real local news outlets, it is terrible news for us as a country and us as a democracy and it’s the best news of all for powerful people who are doing shady stuff who don’t want to get caught for it or called out for it.”
In order to compensate our technical, graphic and editorial support and to continue to maintain the website on a daily basis, we need you, our readers, to choose from one of the monthly payment options (starting at only $7.50 a month). For those among our loyal readers who can, please support Orcas Issues at a higher level. If you are able, please consider a generous annual donation. If you are a local business or organization, place an annual ad.
Click HERE, NOW to help keep us going. We love what we do and can’t imagine not being able to continue. “Go on. Go on. Go on. Do it. Go on.”
**If you are reading theOrcasonian for free, thank your fellow islanders. If you would like to support theOrcasonian CLICK HERE to set your modestly-priced, voluntary subscription. Otherwise, no worries; we’re happy to share with you.**
There’s no question that every reader should support this “paper.”