Imagine Rye without a newspaper.
You would not know what was going on in City Hall or the schools, how your tax dollars were being spent, or the accomplishments and triumphs or your neighbors. You wouldn’t know about the many events in town; the arts and businesses, local sports, history, real estate, and environmental issues.
A lot of people in Westchester — and all over the country — already know what it’s like to have lost their local newspaper.
In just the last two years, community newspapers have folded in Scarsdale, Rye Brook, Port Chester, Edgemont, Dobbs Ferry, Hastings, Irvington, Ardsley, Bedford, and Pound Ridge.
Nationally, more than 3,500 of America’s newspapers have closed since 2005, almost 40 percent of the total. That’s because the advertising model that has guided newspapers practically since their inception has changed — thanks in large part to the Internet.
But we are swimming against that tide. And we believe we can succeed.
That’s why we have launched The Rye Record Foundation for Community News.
Founded in a fiscal sponsorship partnership with Report for America and The GroundTruth Project, the foundation aims to allow us to continue delivering (quite literally to your mailbox) a newspaper that makes Rye a better and more cohesive place for all of us to live.
If you too value community journalism, we ask that you join The Rye Record Foundation for Community News as a member.
When we acquired the newspaper two years ago, our goal was to stabilize the business and then make sure it endures. We have in invested heavily in improving both the paper’s editorial quality and its financial strength.
We have brought on full-time staff and significantly increased our coverage of news, features, the arts, and sports. We have invested in making our website timely and launched two newsletters, a podcast, and an array of social media channels.
And we have strengthened our business, both increasing and diversifying our advertising.
The efforts of our talented team have not gone unnoticed. This year we were honored to receive three awards for journalistic excellence from The New York Press Association and one from the Connecticut Press Club.
We are working hard to keep improving.
But all that costs money — more than we can bring in with advertising alone.
And that’s where you come in.
We are counting on Rye residents who value high-quality, free local news delivered directly to their homes to become members of The Rye Record Foundation for Community News and help keep the paper thriving for many years to come. We believe that a hometown newspaper is strongest when it is supported by the people it serves.
You can make a tax-deductible contribution today to The Rye Record Foundation for Community News and become a member at www.ryerecord.com/donate.
One hundred percent of your support will go toward strengthening and improving the newspaper and our digital properties.
You will enjoy benefits including invitations to community events, a member newsletter, and with your consent, public recognition of your support.
Alternately, you can make a larger donation that will have an even bigger impact on our ability to serve the community. All memberships and contributions to The Rye Record Foundation for Community News are tax deductible by virtue of our fiscal sponsorship partnership with Report for America and The GroundTruth Project.
However you choose to support The Rye Record, your contribution will help pay for writers, editors, and photographers; printing and mailing of the newspaper to everyone in our community; and distributing news, features, and sports through our website, newsletters, podcast and social media.
A valuable and vibrant local newspaper is an important part of keeping Rye the place we all are proud to call home.
We invite you to join us today, and we thank you for your support.
Jon Elsen and Zac Wydra are co-publishers of The Rye Record.
