By QUINTON SMITH/Lincoln Chronicle

A former California newspaper editor who is now an instructor at Fresno State University had some interesting observations recently about local news – and newspaper – coverage that apply to what the Lincoln Chronicle is trying to do on the central Oregon coast.

Jim Boren, the former executive editor of The Fresno Bee, wrote about how newspapers have had to stop covering communities in real depth.

“Doing so requires reporters on the ground, time to investigate and report, and resources to sustain meaningful coverage,” Boren wrote. “These are things most newsrooms simply no longer have. So meetings at City Hall, school board sessions, neighborhood developments, local sports and community events often go unreported, leaving residents disconnected from the very places they live.”

“Yet the solution isn’t to cut back on local news. It’s to double down. Reader engagement doesn’t increase when we retreat; it grows when people see their lives, their neighborhoods, and their concerns reflected in the pages, screens, and broadcasts they trust. More local reporting, not less, is the path to a more informed and connected community.”

The Lincoln Chronicle’s 7-year-old newsgathering effort in the “news desert” of the central Oregon coast is one nonprofit’s attempt to do just that.

It seems to me – and Lincoln Chronicle reporters Garret Jaros and Shayla Escudero – that we could have used a truckload of reporters the past 2-3 months in Lincoln County just to keep up with the basics. The normally slow summer months never did slow down and news events since then have kept piling up and sometimes forcing us to make difficult coverage choices.

Yet we still – as Boren writes – try to make it to city council, county commission and school board meetings but also recognize that our small staff can’t make it to such sessions in Lincoln City, Depoe Bay, and Toledo. But we hope our countywide coverage of news and features helps make up for that a little.

Still, our coverage of even basic, municipal news does not touch how coastal residents live their lives and that’s why we try to offset that “hard” news with features, profiles, standing stories like “5 Questions and a Secret” and help from news partners Oregon Coast Today, Oregon Arts Watch and others.

It’s our belief that local news is important and our small attempt to bring you as much of it 24/7 as we possibly can without any direct cost to you.

This editor’s note is the third of four stories this month asking for your help to have this 501c3 nonprofit cover local news. Because this is a fundraising pitch, I want to emphasize our motto of “Free to all, funded by readers.”

Dozens of you have been very generous this month with your donations as part of our end-of-the-year fundraising campaign. With all that is going on locally, nationally and around the world, it can be an awkward time to ask for your financial help. I do so recognizing that basic needs come first, and support of other nonprofits may be more vital to someone’s immediate well-being.

Lincoln Chronicle is in good financial shape, but it is these December and June local fundraising campaigns that help us keep it that way. And that’s why we ask.

So, here’s how to help us report local news:

Write a check and drop it into the mail to Lincoln Chronicle/YachatsNews, P.O Box 284, Yachats, Ore. 97498;
Use the “Donate” button on the website to make a one-time contribution through PayPal or sign up to join 120 others who make small monthly donations;
Advertise your business or organization on the site. Not only will you gain the additional exposure that 200,000 page views a month can bring, but you will be helping sustain this operation. Here is a link to rates and how to get that process started.

I will leave you with some comments from readers who sent us checks or donated through PayPal.

“Thank you for your fantastic coverage. I appreciate the focus on the central Oregon Coast, one of my favorite places. Your small but mighty team keeps us informed with your indepth coverage, thank you!”

“I love having local news.”

“Your news tells us what’s going on around here on the coast and about important things we need to know influencing our community. I appreciate you and your work.”

“Thank you for providing such an essential need for our community.”

“Thank you for caring enough to report on pertinent topics for our area. I look forward to reading your news. Well done.”

“Thank you so much for your excellent news site. We count on your coverage – it’s the first place we check when we want to find out what’s “really” happening in our area.”