26 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY OCTOBER 23-29, 2025 www.montereycountynow.com THE NEW MODEL TO FUND JOURNALISM INSIDER INSIDER JOIN US NOW Go online at insider.montereycountynow.com Or by mail: 668 Williams Ave., Seaside, CA 93955 Your contribution level: $500 $150 $50 $20 $15 $10 Other $_______ Contribution schedule: Monthly Annual One-time Name_________________________________________________________________________ Address_ ______________________________________________________________________ City, State, Zip__________________________________________________________________ Email_ __________________________________ Phone________________________________ May we include your name in public acknowledgments? Yes How would you like your name to appear___________________________________________ No, I would prefer to be anonymous Payment: Credit card number_ ____________________________________________________________ Expiration date __________________________CVV code_ _____________________________ Name/Billing address (if different from above) ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ For more info: linda@montereycountynow.com (831) 394-5656 102325 The Impact You Can Make While we at the Weekly have become more skilled in our reporting and storytelling over the past 37 years, and while the technology we utilize has become ever more sophisticated to generate and distribute the news, the economic underpinnings of the journalism business have gone through radical transformation. No conversation today about local journalism doesn’t include a lot of bad news. Nationally and locally, news gathering operations have been decimated, either because businesses don’t want to make the investments, or in the case of public radio and TV that the federal government has clawed back money. The sad truth is that in the first six months of 2024, over 79 percent of U.S. digital advertising spending went to just three companies: Meta (which includes Facebook and Instagram), Alphabet (including Google and YouTube) and TikTok. We are lucky and we’re good, but that deck is stacked. We deliver good journalism week in and week out; our advertising base, while diminished, remains solid and we live in a place that backs up its values with generosity. We operate on the notion that if we produce trustworthy writing, we will attract an interested and dedicated audience. In turn, we have then gone to business owners in the community and suggested that they run ads in our pages and on our digital platforms to invite that audience to come do business with them. It was and is an elegant transactional relationship. You will find many of the most successful local businesses advertising in our pages and on our platforms. Without them we wouldn’t be here. The next time you find yourself patronizing an advertiser please tell them you saw their ad in our pages. We’ve also done something new and have been heartened by the results. In the current media landscape, direct financial support from readers is a vital part of a sustainable business model. It too is elegant; it’s a connected relationship where the people who value local and independent journalism help underwrite the costs. And we are happy to report that this new model is working. Since 2020, over 4,300 of your friends and neighbors have made a direct financial contribution to fund our work, joining a select group we call Weekly Insiders. If you are not yet one of them, this is our request for you to take action. If you are already an Insider, or an advertiser, allow us to thank you again. Your support helps us deliver great journalism. Today the Weekly and Monterey County Now have the largest newsroom of any outlet in Monterey County. We have more staff in our editorial department than at any time in our history. We have expanded our distribution channels via newsletters, enhanced our technology, broadened our coverage area and still never missed a deadline. Unlike other media companies we have invested in local journalism. Weekly Insiders have helped make that happen. Will you join them and make a contribution today? —Erik Cushman, Publisher 4,323 TOTAL NUMBER OF INSIDERS 250 GOAL FOR NEW INSIDERS IN OCTOBER $161/year AVERAGE CONTRIBUTION LEVEL THE AVERAGE CONTRIBUTION LEVEL IS UP 40% INSIDERS Source: LGL constituent report 10/25
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