Let's Celebrate Local News Day Together

Pay attention. Be astonished. Tell about it.

You’ve heard the stories — local news is collapsing. Newsrooms are shrinking and shutting down. Reporters are being laid off.

That’s real.

But something else is happening too. Local news isn’t disappearing — it’s changing. In some cases, when older systems fall away, it creates space for something more responsive, more transparent, and closer to the people it serves.

Today is Local News Day. We’re not asking you for money. We’re asking you to pay attention.

That’s part of what’s happening here in Mendocino County. The cost of publishing news has dropped. It’s now possible to run a small newsroom on a few thousand dollars a year, if you’re willing to do the work (and forego a paycheck for a period of time).

MendoLocal.News grew out of that reality.

We started doing this because there were things we needed to know — about local government, about decisions being made — and no clear way to find out. So we started reporting because we had the skills and professional experience — and because we are deeply invested in this community.

That’s still the job: gather information, verify it, and share it so people can make better decisions about their own lives.

We do that online, and we do it in person — at farmers’ markets, in line at the store, at community events. People stop us, tell us things, challenge us, correct us. That back-and-forth is part of the reporting.

Today is Local News Day. We’re not asking you for money. We’re asking you to pay attention.

If you want to understand what we do and how we are different look at the work.

Yesterday’s story on the private equity firm acquiring the Sierra Railroad Company didn’t come out of nowhere. It came from months of asking questions and connecting dots. We link that history in the story so you can see it for yourself.

Same with election coverage. We recorded and posted the District Three Board of Supervisors forum. We’re continuing to follow those races, and we’re getting the District Five forum online as soon as it’s ready.

We also work with other outlets whenever we can. KMUD will broadcast the District Three forum next week. KGUA will broadcast the District Five forum. We share content with the Anderson Valley Advertiser, the Independent Coast Observer, and Redheaded Blackbelt. They extend our reach, and we support each other where possible.

We’ve reached out to other organizations, too. The reality is competition is costly, especially when it results in redundant reporting — or less reporting on issues that matter. The county is better off when more people are paying attention and sharing what they believe to be true.

So today, if you want to support local news, do something simple. In the words of the American poet Mary Oliver:

Pay attention.
Be astonished.
Tell someone about it.

That’s where it starts.