To our readers: Why we do what we do, and how you can help

What if there was no one to report the news …

What if our community didn’t have The Daily Herald?

What if local news didn’t show up as a printed newspaper on your doorstep, digitally on HeraldNet.com and the mobile app, or as alerts in your inbox and on your phone?

What if you didn’t have a trusted source for independent news and information about your community, neighbors, businesses, local government, policies, elections and leaders?

We believe local journalism is a vital public service you need — to plan your day and understand what is occurring around you. For more than 100 years, The Daily Herald has covered the depth and breadth of Snohomish County, and we’re committed to you.

We believe local journalism makes our communities better places to live. We are your watchdog, and we also call attention to the good in our world.

We hope you are able to live a better life because of the independent, local journalism we provide.

We hope you are more civically engaged because of what you read on our website or on our printed pages.

We hope you feel less isolated and more connected to the places we call home because of the quality reporting we do every day.

If you do, we are fulfilling our public service mission as an independent, local newspaper.

Now more than ever …

To do journalism well, we need you. Amid the challenges of the past few years and the troublesome media landscape, we can’t cover all the news that matters with our limited resources.

Now more than ever, we need you — our community — to invest in us so we can continue to serve you.

—Rudi Alcott, Publisher

—Phil O’Connor, Executive Editor

 

Snohomish County needs The Daily Herald because …

As an independent, local newspaper, we’re not accountable to those in power. We ask the tough questions for you. We find the information you need to make decisions for yourself and your family. Our public service mission is to be a fair, independent and reliable source for local news.

You can depend on our reporting.

From the courts to the ports, our reporters cover Snohomish County like no other institution or organization can. Our award-winning journalism often encourages public debate and promotes change. During this pandemic, our community has turned to us more than ever for trusted information.

No one else will shine the light.

Serving as the community watchdog is a core responsibility of the press — and it is an expensive undertaking. Investigative reporters and editors can spend months on a single story to surface information that citizens in a democracy deserve to know. Such reporting can spark reform that benefits a community. If we didn’t shine a light on important issues, who would?

Our stories cover your community.

Our reporters are out in the community, just like you are. And like you, we want our community and democracy to thrive. On our pages, we chronicle the hopes and ambitions, the struggles and tragedies, and the successes and triumphs of our area families, businesses, neighborhoods, community leaders and civic institutions.

 

Our future depends on you

Our path forward at The Daily Herald includes you — it has to.

Over the past couple of years, as newspapers across the country have closed their doors or drastically reduced staff, others have looked to their community for help to keep local journalism alive.

Since 2020, The Daily Herald has worked hard to find new ways to fund the local, independent journalism you depend on while remaining committed to bringing you timely and informative news every day. In cooperation with non-profit fiscal sponsors, we established three journalism funds that accept tax-deductible donations to support reporting that:

• Exposes the local impacts of climate change.

• Advances solutions to challenges facing the working class.

• Demands accountability from those in power.

Our non-profit fiscal sponsors ensure all donations to the Herald’s journalism funds are used for their designated purpose.

The Daily Herald maintains editorial control over content produced with fund resources.

Three journalism funds pay for reporting you value

Any gift you make to a journalism fund is tax deductible and supports only the type of reporting you choose. It will never be used for general operating expenses at The Daily Herald. All donations go directly to one of our fiscal sponsors — either Journalism Funding Partners or Report for America. Our fiscal sponsors are non-profit 501(c)(3) organizations that ensure community contributions are used as intended.

 

Investigative Journalism Fund

To support investigative reporting that is essential for a vibrant community, The Daily Herald established the Investigative Journalism Fund in March 2020. Since then, community contributions to the fund helped The Daily Herald add an investigative reporter and editor to our staff — but we need ongoing support to bring you impactful stories about the issues that matter most to you.

To donate: HeraldNet.com/investigativedonate

 

Environmental and Climate Change Reporting Fund

To help shed light on the impact to our local environment, economy, and health brought about by climate change, The Daily Herald established the Environmental and Climate Change Reporting Fund in September 2020. Since then, community contributions have helped us increase our coverage on these important topics. Our goal is to grow this fund so it can support an additional reporter dedicated to environmental and climate change journalism.

To donate: HeraldNet.com/climatedonate

 

Report for America Fund

Report for America is a national service organization that has placed a reporter in The Daily Herald’s newsroom to focus on the issues confronting the working class, including struggles with housing, employment and homelessness. Report for America contributes a portion of the reporter’s costs and challenges our community to cover the rest.

To donate: HeraldNet.com/RFAdonate

 

Support local journalism today!

You can make your tax-deductible gift to one or all three journalism funds securely and quickly online at HeraldNet.com/donate.

You’ll also find helpful tips for transferring funds from an investment account or requesting an employer match.

To donate by check to the Investigative Journalism Fund or the Environmental and Climate Change Reporting Fund:

• Make check payable to Journalism Funding Partners (our nonprofit fiscal sponsor, tax ID #84-2968843).

• Designate the fund you want to support in the memo line.

• Mail your check to The Daily Herald, P.O. Box 930, Everett, WA 98206.

To donate by check to the Report for America Fund:

• Make check payable to The GroundTruth Project (the nonprofit fiscal sponsor that accepts tax-deductible donations for this fund).

• Designate The Daily Herald in the memo line.

• Mail your check to Report for America — The Daily Herald Campaign, c/o The GroundTruth Project, 10 Guest Street, Boston, MA 02135.

If you have questions about the journalism funds, please contact Journalism Development Director Brenda Mann Harrison at brenda.harrison@heraldnet.com.

 

Join others who support local journalism

Individuals, businesses and nonprofits have made more than 2,300 donations to our journalism funds.

• 62% of donations are made by donors who gave before

• 22% of donors give to two or more funds

Together, we can do more

• $250,000 each year will cover the annual costs for 3 journalists and 1 editor dedicated to covering stories that would otherwise go unreported.

To serve our community better, our goal is to have the journalism funds support

• 1 full-time investigative reporter

• 1 full-time environmental reporter

• 1 full-time investigative editor

• 1 Report for America corps member focused on under-reported topics

Thank you!

Your donations to The Daily Herald’s reporting funds support a vibrant community and a healthy democracy by keeping local journalism strong.

If there was no one to report the news, we would lose the information that allows democracy to function and the stories that connect us.

Thank you for supporting local journalism.

 

What you tell us

• “I donated because a free press, whether local or national, is vitally important to our democracy. Without unbiased journalism, this country is in deep trouble.” —Kay Ellen Tomlinson

• “With all of the conglomerations of news media, local outlets are KEY to our community by being a source of trusted information.” —Suzanne Poppema

• “Small government or big government, we need honest investigative reporting.” —Ralph Nielsen

• “I was so delighted with your series of three articles you ran on trees and their impact on the environment! It’s time we definitely bring this type of information front and center of conversation and actions we take. Bravo!!!” —Marcia Thumma

• “I just want to support decent, local, unbiased news coverage.” —Bill Mayer

• “Investigative journalism must address all facets of a story, which takes knowledge, time and patience. The stories should be fair, in depth, factual, without political influence. I hope my small donation will allow a journalist to pursue a story for those reasons.” —Sharon Sutherland

• “Every other public policy issue has lower consequences than climate change. So we’ll invest in The Herald’s consistent, strong coverage of climate issues.” —Lee Alley

• “Truth is important. Democracy depends on truth.” —John and Shirley Ihle