In my work as executive director of High Country News, I get to travel around the West, visiting with the remarkable people who are the backbone of this institution — the readers and supporters who have kept HCN going for an amazing 55 years.
Lately, the conversation has often turned to our news consumption habits. Many people have told me that, after a year of obsessing over the election and the polls and all the bumps and tremors along the way, they’re done. When I’ve asked what news they’re reading (or watching or listening to) these days, more than one person has responded, “I’m not.”
Even fellow journalists are downcast. At a recent gathering of Northwestern climate journalists, people groaned that we’d failed, as an industry, to educate the public about what was at stake in the election. If anything, this country seems to be barreling into oblivion with its foot planted firmly on the gas pedal.
We shared a few laughs (and tipped a few beers) but between the state of the world and the state of the news business, I’m not sure we left feeling any better about things.
I’ve done some soul-searching myself. I canceled a couple of national news subscriptions, quit social media and spent a recent Sunday morning scrubbing out my email inbox and taking myself off of national newsfeeds and marketing lists.
Rather than The New York Times, I’m reading my local paper and community news sites. I’ve traded national political pundits for local and regional thought leaders, my favorite public radio station and an arts blogger who always surprises me with her discoveries and insights.
Instead of doom-scrolling, I’m trying to seek out information that connects me to my community and helps me engage with the world. I don’t always succeed, but when I do, I feel less like an observer and more like a participant.
As Nina McConigley wrote in her column in the January issue, “We must make connections. We must make our communities better. Our homes better. Our environment better. Our workplaces better. … I do not want despair to turn into doing nothing, into just tolerating.”
That, of course, is what High Country News is all about. Our mission is to “inform and inspire people to act.” We’re here to fight that feeling of hopelessness and empower people to make a difference.
So how are we doing? We’d love to hear your thoughts. And we’re curious to hear about what you’re reading (and watching and listening to) these days, and how you’re connecting with your communities.
Send us a note at dearfriends@hcn.org or a real, pen-to-paper letter (I’m trying to do more of that this year, too). And don’t hesitate to pick up the phone and call. As one longtime reader recently told a member of our customer service team, “We’ll live through it, maybe. As long as I keep getting HCN so I can know what’s going on.”
Did you know?
HCN’s readers provide three-quarters of the revenue that powers our nonprofit journalism.
Our readers sponsor subscriptions for every state legislator in 12 Western states, and every member of Congress.
More than 4,000 readers made contributions last year, in addition to paying for a subscription.
The median donation was $50. The average was $560.
The HCNU classroom subscription program put our journalism in front of some 20,000 students.
Almost 100 other news outlets — ranging from The Atlantic and The Salt Lake Tribune to the Bozeman Chronicle and the Kiowa County Press — republished HCN stories at no charge.
For more information and a list of some of the top stories we published last year, check out our 2024 Annual Report.
Thank you! We couldn’t do it without you!
We welcome reader letters. Email High Country News at editor@hcn.org or submit a letter to the editor. See our letters to the editor policy.
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