LYME / OLD LYME — We have been covering community news in Lyme and Old Lyme since December 3, 2003, which means we are just coming up to our 20th birthday!
During that time, our income has come exclusively from advertising and we thank sincerely all our advertisers over that time, but especially those who have placed their business with us on an ongoing basis for many years.
These include Suisman Shapiro Attorneys at Law, Musical Masterworks, Lyme Art Association, and the Florence Griswold Museum.
Meanwhile, in line with our mission statement “to be an integral part of the fabric of the community that we serve,” we have never instituted a paywall on our site (unlike, for example, The Day) with the result that readers can access all parts of our site at no charge and there is no limit to the number of articles that anyone can read.
Also in keeping with our mission, we donate significant amounts of advertising to numerous local non-profits every year.
Now let’s look at the national picture for a minute — more than 2,500 newspapers have closed since 2005, including the former Main Street News and Pictorial Gazette, both of which used to serve us right here in Lyme and Old Lyme with well-researched community news. But remember you used to pay for them …
In 15 years, one-fourth of newspapers nationwide were forced to close, according to a 2020 study by researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. At least 1,800 communities that had a local news outlet in 2004 were without one at the beginning of 2020, the UNC team found.
Although we do not charge to read LymeLine.com and still do not intend to introduce a paywall, it costs money to produce the news. First and foremost, reporters have to be paid. Quite simply, the more we invest in reporters, the better in every way the news is that we publish.
We also have charges for software development, graphic design, marketing, web-hosting and a myriad of other operational and administrative expenses, which arise when you run a small business.
Please consider a donation of any size to support the continued production of local, independent, online news here at LymeLine. We are members of the national Local, Independent, Online News (LION) Publishers organization and were honored to be named the runner-up in LION Publisher’s national award for Solopreneurs in 2020.
You can make your donation a monthly contribution if you wish, in the same way that you perhaps subscribe to a newspaper.
If you prefer to send a check, then please make it payable to Shoreline Web News LLC and mail it to:
Shoreline Web News LLC
10208 Kensington Pkwy
Kensington, MD 20895-3305
THANK YOU!
