Saucon Source is celebrating an important milestone this week–and we wouldn’t be doing it without you.
Almost nine years after we launched, we just published our 10,000th story. If you’re into math, that works out to a publishing rate of over a thousand stories per year since October 2014.
That’s a lot of local news and 100 percent of it has been available to you paywall-free. As one of the only independent news companies in the region, run by a solo entrpreneur, that makes us proud.
We’re also proud to give you the news you need without spin you don’t. Unlike groups on hyperlocal online platforms such as Facebook and Nextdoor, where it’s often impossible to identify the sources of information, the news in our articles is gathered from named sources. Our stories are researched and reported according to professional journalism standards, so you can trust them to be accurate. Accuracy in reporting saves all of us time. And when there is a mistake–and yes, mistakes do occasionally appear in all news publications–we do our utmost to be transparent about it.
Our news is also written with busy families in mind, which is why we don’t overload it with extra details or publish the kinds of long-form story you might find in a traditional print newspaper.
If you’re like many of our 20,000+ Facebook fans and newsletter subscribers, you probably already know much of this. And perhaps you haven’t ever given it much thought. We know that everyone is busy, but we hope you’ll not only join us in celebrating this achievement, but also reflect on the importance of local news to our community and ways you can potentially support it.
How did we get here?
Publisher and editor Josh Popichak has always enjoyed reading and reporting local news. Before he launched Saucon Source with community support, he worked for a weekly newspaper covering this area and later for an online media corporation that published a dozen hyperlocal news sites in the Lehigh Valley. A Bethlehem native, he is a graduate of Bates College, where he was an editor for the Bates Student and a history major. Over the past 18 years, Josh has made friends and developed many meaningful professional relationships in the Saucon area, which he has grown to consider a second home. He’s invested by opening an office on Main Street and is proud as the owner of Saucon Source LLC to support community organizations such as the Saucon Valley Farmers Market and Saucon Valley Football, not only with regular news coverage, but also as a business sponsor. Josh also enjoys volunteering with the farmers market and as a member of the Fountain Hill Community Coalition.
All of these experiences have shaped his idea of community, and it’s hopefully one you share. A community is a place where neighbors support each other, and that has always been the goal with Saucon Source. Although some may find the notion quaint, authentic community journalism would not exist without the trust and support that are exists between news writers and their readers.
Without your trust we wouldn’t be here today, and to everyone who’s helped Saucon Source succeed, we are sincerely grateful. Sharing your news with us has made our community a better place.
How is this business model sustainable?
There is no question that maintaining a paywall-free news site is a challenge, as the costs of news production–including everything from business insurance to technology–continue to rise.
We exist to serve the community, but Saucon Source is also a business, and without revenue it could not exist. There are several forms of revenue that sustain Saucon Source LLC, and we feel it’s important for you to know about them, so you can better decide whether our local news is something you may be able to help actively support.
How you can help
An easy way you can support our mission to provide the best local news in the area is by becoming a member. Voluntary recurring memberships are $70 per year (monthly and quarterly payment options are also available) and can be canceled at any time. Member information is stored securely and never sold. And the more members we have, the more local news we can cover.
Another way to support our business is to advertise with us. Hundreds of local businesses and organizations have already realized the powerful impact of Saucon Source advertising, and if you’re not yet one of them we hope you’ll accept our invitation to learn more.
Why advertise with us? So far this year, stories published on SauconSource.com–including many stories we have broken before other daily local news outlets were aware of them–have been viewed nearly half a million times. And our community-minded readers respond to the local ad campaigns on this website, which are custom-made to meet the unique needs of each business.
If you’re curious about how we may be able to help your business–or if you’ve advertised in the past and are thinking about it again–we’d love to connect with you. Saucon Source has many affordable options, including a permanent 50 percent discount for nonprofit organizations, churches, local governments and other groups that don’t typically have large marketing budgets.
For more information, including a no-obligation quote, please email jo**@sa**********.com or call/text 610-442-3370. Josh will explain how our ads work and answer any questions you have.
The bottom line
Quality local news should be the norm, especially since technology has made small-scale local news publishing feasible, but news deserts are actually increasing in size throughout the U.S. This is due to a number of factors, one of which is the decline of corporate-owned legacy media.
There is hope for a next phase of journalism, however, with community support.
Around the country, other publishers are doing the same work we are. For examples of this commitment to excellent local journalism, check out LevittownNow.com and NorthPennNow.com, which are both independently-owned and community-supported. Many small indie sites like ours have found support and resources in a group called the Local Independent Online News (LION) publishers. Together, we believe the work we are doing is the future of American journalism and our democracy, but we can’t–and won’t–succeed without you.
We would be remiss if we didn’t also thank the freelance writers, photographers and others who have contributed creatively to Saucon Source’s success since Day One. As long as our budget allows for it, we hope to grow our news team, so if you write well and have an interest in reporting on the Saucon Valley, Southern Lehigh or upper Bucks County areas we would love to hear from you.
Thank you for your readership since Oct. 28, 2014. Here’s to another 10,000 stories.
