On the cover of our January print edition, you’ll notice there’s a little graphic noting that we’re celebrating 10 years of existence here at the Independent.
It’s true. We have sort of a rolling series of milestones here. The first one came last October, when we hit the 10-year anniversary of our first story posted at CVIndependent.com. This month, we’re celebrating the “official” launch of the Independent online. In April, we’ll mark 10 years since our first print edition. And in October of this year, it’ll be 10 years since we started our monthly print schedule.
Part of me has a hard time believing it’s all true. A decade is a long time for any business to survive—let alone a news publication launched after the Great Recession. There were times, especially in the early days of our existence, when I didn’t think the Independent would survive a couple of years, much less 10.
But when I look back at everything that’s happened since the Independent was born … wow, it feels like we’ve been through several decades’ worth of insanity during that 10-year period.
Marriage equality came … and is, in some states, in jeopardy again. There was the Trump presidency, and the corresponding insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021. Roe vs. Wade was thrown out. Perhaps most significantly, there was—OK, is—the pandemic. In March, April and May of 2020, I was again afraid the Independent wouldn’t make it.
But we did (thanks in large part to you, our readers), and as 2023 arrives, the Independent is starting our second decade of existence—and we have big goals.
As you may have noticed, the local daily is dying. For the second time in recent years, local management is begging for donations and nonprofit support to bring back an employee position that was eliminated by higher-ups at Gannett, the multibillion dollar company that owns The Desert Sun. To be frank, the only logical path toward The Desert Sun’s survival involves Gannett selling the newspaper to independent ownership that’s dedicated to making sure it survives—but at the rate things are going, there won’t be much of The Desert Sun left in a few years.
That means local independent news sources like the Independent need to step up and do as much as we can to fill the gap. To that end, we’re looking into converting the Independent into a nonprofit news organization, structured so the Independent has more support and access to a broader range of funding sources—making it so our future is secure, and positioning us to grow.
We’ll keep you posted, of course, as this effort unfolds. In the meantime, thank you for your support—and thank you for reading.
Note: This is the editor’s note that appeared in the January 2023 print edition. Another version of this column was originally published online in the Dec. 22 Indy Digest.