Doorstep delivery of a newspaper is a lost art. I asked my husband about this recently. His first job was delivering newspapers at the crack of dawn in his neighborhood. Landing a newspaper properly folded in thirds on a porch within steps of the front door, while riding a bicycle, was the source of well-earned bragging rights.
It’s difficult to draw parallels today as news is increasingly delivered seamlessly around the world to digital devices. No bicycles needed. Yet, while it’s speedier, the content of today’s news is a different story. There is little dispute that local news coverage has suffered.
Finding well-reported local news amidst expanding news deserts and in a highly polarized world is hard work. And there is a real cost to small communities. Absent sustained, local journalism, it’s much harder for readers and listeners to make informed decisions about local budget tradeoffs or to take meaningful action to address the challenges facing their schools or the fate of the ferry service, community hospital, and volunteer fire department. This kind of local journalism helps community leaders and residents make smarter, confident decisions. Today it’s a scarce commodity.
In this context, Island Institute is proud to deliver the best of community journalism. For more than 30 years, The Working Waterfront newspaper has connected our readers to crucial, underreported, and pivotal stories. This commitment is at the heart of one of our strategic priorities: to be the trusted voice along the coast.
We don’t seek sensational headlines. Rather, we seek important stories that reflect the full experience of living on the coast of Maine—from economic- and climate-related challenges to the future of our fishing industry, the protection of working waterfronts, and the livelihoods they foster. We also celebrate what makes us unique, elevating the voices of keen observers who animate life on the coast in their columns and letters.
To sustain our commitment to remaining the trusted voice on the coast, we’ve evolved, just as quality journalism has done nationally. While we continue to distribute 35,000 copies of our printed paper six times a year, we are also using online tools to make sure we meet everyone where they find their news—which is almost never on their front doorstep.
We’re also adapting our content. You may have noticed our new Waypoints series, which translates complex data into easy-to-understand graphics. We have a new editor, Charlie Eichacker, and a new multimedia storyteller, Madison McClintock. They bring exceptional new skills to our work. We have also added media partnerships and correspondents to our mix, ensuring that this paper stays fresh, relevant, accurate, and, importantly, trusted.
At the same time, I’m keenly aware that we are fighting distant forces well beyond our control that, nevertheless, hit us directly. The timbre of national discussions doesn’t foster trust in any institution. The old economic models that sustained journalism have collapsed, stretching our budgets further. The rise of myriad outlets and other bespoke platforms has customized delivery while making a common conversation nearly impossible.
In short, we’re losing the “unum” from “E pluribus unum”.
As each issue of The Working Waterfront is published and the content shared more broadly, I am proud that we are doing our part to strengthen civic engagement and expand solutions on islands and in coastal communities. I think of the virtuous cycle and centripetal forces that hold us together, and I envision this newspaper as one of those forces that builds, rather than erodes, community strength.
With each issue, we strive to earn your trust, and we are honored to give it a voice. While we don’t deliver each issue by bike, we hope we land it just as skillfully with the local content you value.
Kim Hamilton is president of Island Institute, publisher of The Working Waterfront. She may be contacted at khamilton@islandinstitute.org.
