Story originally published on April 9.
By West Side Rag
Today is the first-ever Local News Day, organized by journalists across the United States who work in local media, including hyperlocal sites like West Side Rag.
It’s a day to remind all of us – newsrooms, news consumers, financial supporters – of the role local media plays in keeping us informed, in strengthening our communities, and in holding leaders accountable. The organizers hope that putting a spotlight on this today can spark a national movement that sustains local news for generations.
For West Side Rag, the spotlight offers an opportunity to update you on us. The Rag is in a moment of transition, seeking to gain nonprofit status that we hope can help us gain much-needed financial stability.
- Support West Side Rag by clicking — HERE.
Our current revenue from advertising and occasional fundraising appeals does not cover expenses, even though we are a tiny operation: two part-time editors, a financial director, a small roster of freelancers, and the absolutely intrepid Gus Saltonstall, our only full-time reporter, who, along with our freelancer team, covers everything everywhere in the neighborhood all at once.
And we do mean everything, from interviewing several of the many candidates seeking to replace longtime Rep. Jerrold Nadler in Congress, to disclosing the Zoom call that led to cancellation of Department of Education plans to close a beloved UWS school (Gus’s reporting led the way throughout that controversy), to exposing the mysterious slabs of salmon rotting on the ground in Verdi Square last week.
Our writers, who are paid for their work, are committed to bringing you news, features, profiles, quirky and thoughtful essays, and occasional laughs. All of this is free to you – we have no paywall. But it is not free to produce, and that is why we are reaching out to you on this Local News Day to ask for much-needed reader support.
Your support in these crucial coming months can help us bridge the Rag’s revenue gap as we work to attain nonprofit status. We appreciate your support, whether as a one-time gift or an ongoing, monthly donation that would give us sustaining support now and for the future.
You can lend your financial support by clicking – HERE.
And please share the link with your neighbors who read the Rag, too.
Help preserve the heartbeat of the Upper West Side and keep the Rag’s reporting free, fun, relevant, and independent, and help ensure our future.
West Side Rag is looking to raise $35,000 at this moment.
Again, you can lend your support – HERE.
I would suggest as a money saving measure, eliminate the “quirky and thoughtful essays”.
Not sure what purpose they serve.
I am sure my comment if allowed will bring more comments, increasing traffic.
This is my donation.
Thank you!
Will do.
Done. Local independent news is important, and the Rag is more fun than the competition.
Ask Gale Brewer for the money
Actually I think this is not at all a bad idea. I would be glad to see some of my taxes going to support hyperlocal journalism. I’d certainly vote for the WSR to receive money under the community budgeting program as well.
Happy to chip in but just want you to know that my process was not so smooth. i went the credit card route and i had to go through endless clicking of fire hydrants, trucks etc to make sure i was not a robot. Not sure if there is an easier way to get funds donated.
Yeah, t’was bikes and crosswalks and stoplights for me… But, I persisted, as stubborn people do, and finally proved my nonrobotized status to get through.
I tried to donate via the Apple Pay option. Absolutely not working. I tried several times yesterday and today. You need to yell at the donorbox.org people. OK, OK, talk nicely to them, not yelling. But really: when you want folks to give you money, it’s a good idea to make it as easy as possible. Zero friction would be just about right.
I would love to if you would stop supporting AntiSemitism and Terrorism. But until you do, I will never give you a dime!
When on earth have has the Rag supported anti-semitism or terrorism? If I’m not mistaken, at least some folks involved with the Rag are Jewish. Not that you’re necessarily interested in facts, of course
What content are you referring to, exactly…?
Thank you for all you do