To our readers,
In a matter of weeks, our world has been upended and we, all of us, are facing challenges we never would have imagined. Job number one is the fight against COVID-19, but right behind it is the immense task of shoring up and saving the institutions that form the framework of our lives — schools, local governments, small businesses and public safety agencies, just to name a few.
There has never been a time when local journalism has been more important. In today’s paper alone, there are stories about the massive funding crisis facing the Aberdeen School District, what happens when the homeless camp behind City Hall closes and the city’s consideration of selling land they were going to move the camp to, and the county’s decision to bring back employees, but keep county buildings closed.
These are thorough, balanced pieces of journalism that will help you make up your minds about the actions of people you have elected. Facebook is great for keeping track — from a distance — of your cousins who really shouldn’t be allowed to operate machinery, but if you want trusted information about the people and institutions in this community, Facebook comments won’t cut it.
You all rely on dozens of news sources from around the world these days. You carry all that news in your pocket, but none of those sources cover this community. None of them had our story today about a trombone trio that stands outside to serenade folks in a nursing home, none of them had the great picture of young Ben Fagerstedt, a latter-day Frank Sinatra, doing the same thing at another facility, and none of them had the Master Gardener story that has everything you need to know to grow a ripe tomato in this climate, no small thing.
Our journalists are still out there doing their jobs, working harder than ever because the stakes are higher than ever. We’ve reduced out staff and that makes it harder, but we are busting our tails to get you the most complete news we can.
We have lifted our “paywall” on essential COVID-19 related stories to get that news to as many people as we can — for free. If you are a subscriber, you have access not only to this information, but to all of our other content online at thedailyworld.com as well.
We are grateful, and proud, that our advertisers have chosen us as the way to connect with you about what they are doing during these times.
But, like nearly every other local business, the pandemic is putting financial pressure on The Daily World like we’ve never before experienced.
That’s meant tough decisions. Besides reducing staff, some temporarily, some permanently, we’ve made other changes. We’ve temporarily suspended publication of The Vidette and the North Coast News weeklies. We’ve cut the paper to one section and temporarily dropped sports coverage.
But every day you’ll still get news, features, opinion, comics, crosswords, puzzles, ads and plenty more.
Our priority in making these changes has been to preserve our ability to perform our public service mission and keep our community informed during these difficult days.
We hope that you value that critical role and support us in this important mission by becoming a subscriber today. To become a digital or home delivery print subscriber, or to support us with a donation, visit https://www.thedailyworld.com/support/
To stop the spread of COVID-19, our teams are working remotely so it may take more time than usual to reach us. We thank you for your patience.
Thank you for your support of The Daily World. We wish all the best to you in this difficult time.
Sincerely,
Mike Hrycko
Publisher
