ANGELO LYNN

Inside today’s Addison Independent, readers will find a four-page EXTRA section announcing the launch of The Addy All-Stars. It’s a term recognizing Addy Indy readers who choose to donate in addition to the cost of a yearly subscription. This club, or team, or special group of readers — however you want to think of it — is needed to sustain the quality journalism the Independent has been able to provide for the past 40 years.

It’s no secret the revenue model for journalism has been disrupted by the digital revolution, and that revolution has diminished newspapers across the nation. How then, you may ask, has the Addy Indy been able to seemingly thrive when other newspapers have not? 

The short answer is because it’s independently owned, and we chose to keep our high standards of journalism over the need for profit.

But we can’t do that forever. One answer is to build a broader-based revenue stream. That’s where the Addy All-Stars come in. If just half of our readership contributed $2 to $5 a week on an annual basis, that would go a long way to keeping us sustainable for much of the next decade.

We realize that’s no small ask. Not everyone can afford an extra $100 to $250, and for those who can’t, just being a paid subscriber is a big help. 

But if you would ask, what do you get in return for that extra contribution, there’s an explanation of our vision going forward in this EXTRA section, as well as a breakdown of the cost of a single sports story, which, spoiler alert, tallies $175 — and that’s far below the actual cost.

Add the 20-plus staff written stories each week, opinions, columnists, editing, our advertising team, graphics, layout, distribution, billing and other costs and we spend north of $25,000 every week to produce the Addison Independent, along with our four newsletters, website and social media presence.

If I were to write a headline to capture this shocking news, it would be something like: “$1.50 buys you $25,000 in value.” In that context, a contribution $2 to $5 per week somehow seems reasonable.

There’s much more to this story told in today’s special EXTRA section. Please spend a few extra moments this week to read it. Hopefully you’ll gain a new understanding of the cost of quality news, and how, with everyone’s help, we can keep it vibrant in Addison County.

Angelo Lynn