You don’t have to be a Baby Boomer to make a matching donation to keep nonprofit public-interest journalism alive in New Haven.
But this is a special appeal to my fellow Boomers.
I have some news to share: We Boomers might still love reading print newspapers. But most people are reading the news on … computers and phones. (The New York Times alone now has close to four million online-only subscribers.)
And news reporting is increasingly being supported by readers, not advertisers.
Some of us might have missed this fact while we were busy comparing the 37 different versions of “Hurricane” on the 14-disc box-set reissue of Bob Dylan’s Rolling Thunder Revue tour. But it’s a good thing!
We Boomers know how important quality public-interest news is. (We lived through Watergate, after all.) And after raising families, we learned how it all starts with local news.
Here’s our chance to support it in New Haven: By making a tax-deductible donation to the Independent. We’re in the midst of a fundraising drive in which every dollar you donate (up to $1,000) will be matched through a national “News Match” campaign. (Details lower down in this article.)
Boomers like us are living through a moment of generational change in New Haven. For the first time, a post-Boomer has won an election for mayor. (By a lot.) A millennial ran his campaign.
Similarly, the guard has been changing in our nonprofit sector, in business — and here at the Independent, where the stories that made the biggest difference this past year about housing, economic development, public health, schools, and city finances were written by cutting-edge reporters who hadn’t even heard of this site (and couldn’t yet vote) when we started in 2005.
Which is all to say: We boomers can exhale. It’s not all on us anymore! Younger, talented people with fresh ideas and energy are stepping up.
We still have plenty to contribute — including financially, to support important work being done in our community.
So this is a pitch directly from one Boomer to other Boomers: Please consider making a donation to keep the lights on and reporters paid at the New Haven Independent. We run on an NPR-style business model of charitable support. We are in the midst of an annual “News Match” drive in which your donations will be matched dollar for dollar, up to $1,000, from now through December. Since the Independent started, another 150 nonprofit public-interest news sites have cropped up around the country. News Match supports us all.
You don’t have to be a Boomer, by the way. Anyone can contribute! (In fact, please do.)
Your tax-deductible donations also support the Valley Independent Sentinel and keep WNHH FM on the air.
It’s so simple that even we newsprint-scanning, paper-check-writing Boomers can figure it out:
• You can make a one-time online donation through the NewsMatch program at the following link: https://www.newsmatch.org/organizations/online-journalism-project
• You can also make a one-time donation or a recurring monthly donation through PayPal at the following link: https://www.newhavenindependent.org/index.php/donate/support_NHI/.
• Or you can send an old-school check, made out to “Online Journalism Project” and mailed to New Haven Independent, 51 Elm ST. 3rd floor, New Haven CT 06510.
Click here to learn more about NewsMatch and pick other worthy nonprofit news efforts to support.
Thank you!
