This month, the Current kicks off its annual spring fundraiser. You may think that it is an unusual subject for this editorial space where the Current editorial board expresses its opinions and perspectives on important events and broader issues affecting Marblehead. However, we think raising funds to sustain Marblehead’s only nonprofit, independent online and print news outlet is worth a moment of your time.
Let us begin briefly with why we are here. The regional and local news crisis has been well-documented, with few communities escaping unscathed, including Marblehead. As a Northwestern University Medill School of Journalism report recently found, an average of two newspapers close each week across the United States. Reasons for the decline vary, but most involve the for-profit financial pressures on newsrooms.
Encouragingly, Northwestern University’s report reveals a favorable countertrend. It found a notable increase in public philanthropic support and awareness of the importance of local journalism and the emergence of new journalistic business models.
Thankfully, we all can see and reap the benefits of this countertrend firsthand here in Marblehead. In other words, you are the reason that the Current’s newsroom operates at such high levels and that the Current functions for Marblehead and Marblehead only. Your funding ensures that the Current is and remains a locally controlled nonprofit solely and passionately dedicated to delivering you trusted and comprehensive hyperlocal news reported on by professional journalists.
A word on the Current’s team of journalists. They are career reporters and editors committed to covering local matters with integrity, independence and a deep appreciation and understanding of Marblehead’s traditions and culture. They understand that reporting on local issues without fear or favor is not always easy but that it is essential to promote awareness and accountability to empower and inform you. Their dedication to delivering independent and unbiased news reflects the high standards that you should expect and deserve. You can regularly see them around town, and you can read about them online at marbleheadcurrent.org/our-newsroom.
Only through your generous support can they and the rest of the Current volunteers provide complete local coverage for you and your neighbors on important and pressing topics affecting your tax dollars, your children’s education, your safety, your wellbeing and your neighborhood’s future. This includes producing Town Meeting and election guides and real-time reporting on an historic Town Meeting and contentious local strikes; and chronicling in detail cultural events, charitable causes, business activities, and our athletes’ and performers’ achievements.
These stories matter. They are reflective of Marblehead’s successes, challenges and varied interests, and they preserve the ongoing story of this community and what makes Marblehead so special.
Your support also allows the Current to serve as Marblehead’s town square. The Current’s opinion section encourages thoughtful commentary and opinions that help our community to learn, listen and grow together. Whether it is a Current editorial providing context and clarity on a complex issue or your letter to the editor expressing an opinion or highlighting a concern or happening, the Current provides a safe space for community dialogue and disagreement on the issues that matter most to Marblehead. In an age dominated by anonymous, walled and often vitriolic online chat rooms and algorithms promoting outrage, the Current’s open and civil space for residents to express themselves and their ideas has never been more vital.
Make no mistake: Your support of the Current directly translates to a better Marblehead. The Harvard Kennedy School of Government notes that communities with a strong, independent local news source tend to experience higher civic engagement, have more accountable local governments and share a common identity and purpose.
This is Marblehead with the Current. The Current helps you make sense of Marblehead. And it is yours: Read it, talk about it, share it, write to it, partner with it, subscribe to its newsletter, attend its events and — just as important — support it.
The financial reality of keeping the Current in Marblehead is that it requires your support. Local journalism depends on local support. The Current needs $36,000 each month just to operate. We know that $36,000 is not insignificant. Raising $36,000 each month requires effort from our readers. But that amount is necessary to maintain our nonprofit business model so that you continue to receive independent, innovative and community-based reporting and opinion that truly enhances your life and benefits the larger community.
This is why we are using this space to ask for your generous support during the Current’s spring fundraiser. The Current exists because Marblehead believes in the power of and is committed to local news.
To the many of you who demonstrated that commitment through your past support, please renew that commitment. To those of you demonstrating that commitment for the first time, welcome.
And to all of you, of course, a thank you — an informed community is indeed a stronger community.
The Current Editorial Board
The members of the Current’seditorial board are Bob Peck, chairman of the Current; Virginia Buckingham, president of the Current's board of directors; board member Brian Birke, Current editorial staff member Kris Olson, and Joseph P. Kahn, a retired Boston Globe journalist.
