CH Local Emergency Appeal

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Give to the Chestnut Hill Local Emergency Appeal

Dear members and friends of the Chestnut Hill Community,
 
If having our community paper means something to you, read on and buckle up. We need you.

The statistics are staggering: 2.5 papers on average go out of business in the United States every week. We are not immune in Chestnut Hill. It’s sobering but true: the Chestnut Hill Local is in dire financial straits. The Chestnut Hill Local and the Community Association, which are separate organizations, have been raising the alarms for some time in our annual appeals. However, things are quickly spiraling downward. Case in point: First, this month and prior, the Chestnut Hill Local has had a hard time covering payroll. This is not the first time but the go-forward picture with no changes looks bleak. Second, the Chestnut Hill Local Board voted to disband itself after senior management departed and a dire financial outlook came to light. Governance will be absorbed by the Chestnut Hill Community Association, which is the sole owner of the paper and had oversight for the Local prior to the Local board’s formation.

How did we get here? Twenty-twenty hindsight is a rabbit hole that we don’t have the luxury of wallowing in but I will share that personnel and operating expenses outstripped advertising and circulation revenue. The economy has been tough on advertising, which has shrunk by 30% in the last two months, and the Chestnut Hill Local and board did not adjust to the realities. The strategy of overreliance on grants, donor giving, and growth of circulation and advertising revenue in Mt. Airy and Germantown did not pan out, and grants that were awarded did not have replacements once that grant money was exhausted. Running the Chestnut Hill Local with a reliance on foundations did not yield the dividends that were highly anticipated. Editorial reliance on freelance reporters over and above staff reporters added costs that further inflated expenses. Reliance on a now extinguished credit line, the Community Association, and the Chestnut Hill Community Fund as backstops continued the downward spiral. Tough conversations have started with accounts due, outstanding invoices due the paper, and how we manage the paper going forward.

There is a bright spot. This is not unique. Many newspapers are fighting for relevance in a digital age and grappling with the reading preferences of younger demographics. Many papers are working to balance expenses with current realities. We are, too. But this is also the opportunity to write a new chapter for the Chestnut Hill Local, the staff, the Community Association, and our community.

To allow us time to recalibrate, the Chestnut Hill Community Association Board voted to approve a $15,000 matching grant. The Chestnut Hill Community Fund trustees voted to match that grant. These two efforts have allowed us to create a stabilization fund to meet payroll and address the most urgent creditors due while still having meaningful conversations with all creditors and realigning our future expenses to the realities of today’s paper.

I want to extend a huge THANK YOU to Donna Shaw for stepping up as editor during this transition. She is doing it unpaid and from the heart. I hope you embrace her and her giving spirit. She is doing it for the community and so am I. We love this community and are fighting for the future of our 67-year-old paper and 77-year-old Community Association. We hope you will join us.

If you would like to make a significant donation to support local journalism, please reach out to the Community Association. We are looking for individuals who can help with funding while we develop our turnaround strategy. If you are a longtime resident, or have family who has been here for generations, or are a newcomer, you also have a vested interest in the longevity of the paper and we ask for your support. If you are a local business, advertising in the Chestnut Hill Local not only gives you access to an amazing base in Chestnut Hill, Mt. Airy, Wyndmoor, Roxborough, Manayunk and Springfield Township, it provides a local voice of businesses that should it go away will be hard to replace. If you are a partnering institution in Chestnut Hill or its environs, we need you, too; consistently advertising your events and mission in the Chestnut Hill Local grounds your group in the community and would also be hard to replace. If you are part of a foundation or write grants and can assist in our next chapter, please reach out immediately. This can’t wait. At the end of the day, local journalism matters and it requires your support – everyone’s support. We can’t do this alone.

You may also make a donation for the Chestnut Hill Local Emergency Appeal by mailing a check to the Chestnut Hill Community Association, 8434 Germantown Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19118. Please note the donation is for the Chestnut Hill Local.