Letter From the Editor: The Beacon is One!

This week marks the one-year anniversary of The Beacon’s launch into publishing, and boy howdy, what a year!

When I first approached Derek Firenze with the idea of starting an online news outlet in 2023, I knew it would be way more work than one person could possibly handle. We spent a little over a year building a board and finding a web person, and then, in December of that year, I was hit by a distracted driver at Four Corners and totaled my truck.

The money from the accident helped us through the original start-up costs, and donors like you helped us build into what we are now (Side note: if you’re selling a manual 4x4 Tacoma, let me know. I love the Beacon, but gosh, do I miss my truck).

There has been a lot of speculation about how we’re funded, and I’m finally prepared to let you in on the secret: we’re currently 100% donor-funded, excluding the money we received in matching funds from our fiscal sponsor The Institute for Nonprofit News and The Rural News Network. During November and December, they matched your donations; otherwise, every dollar we’ve received has come from your friends and neighbors here in Jefferson County.

The average monthly donation to the Beacon is just $13, while the average for a one-time donation is $102.50. That’s interesting data, but it doesn’t tell the real story of what having an independent nonprofit news outlet means to our readers. All in all, 180 of you have donated to the Beacon. I am incredibly humbled by all the names I recognize on our donor list; friends from all corners of my life are represented in one spreadsheet. But in many ways, I’m more overwhelmed by the support from people I don’t know, people who believe in what our reporters and board are doing.

Through your donations, we’ve been able to pay two regular freelance reporters and multiple columnists a living wage, bringing you everything from potholes to studio visits, housing policy to ethnobotany. After a year of volunteering my time to a cause I deeply believe in, this week marks the start of the Beacon paying me a little, too.

So, what’s next for the Beacon? We’ll keep putting news out every week, working to earn your trust as we tell stories as clearly and fairly as we can. And if you have an idea for a story, my inbox is always open.

Fiercely,

Nhatt Nichols

Editor