Local news can make a difference, and it is encouraging that a team led by Kari Mar has launched a new print and online news outlet in La Conner. This goes against the trend that has seen more than two dozen weekly newspapers and three dailies cease publication in Washington State in the past two decades.
Most of us grew up in towns with daily or weekly papers that covered local governments and helped bond us as communities through stories on school sports, Fourth of July parades, restaurant openings, and local events. We knew what the school board was proposing and we knew why the fire department needed another truck. Because we knew what was going on, we could make fact-based decisions at the ballot box. As Thomas Jefferson famously said: “A wellinformed citizenry is the best defense against tyranny.”
Kari Mar started out as a Seattle journalist but then spent most of her career in tech. Deciding to return to her first love, she set her sights on running a local paper. When the La Conner Weekly News ceased publishing last December, she formed a team and launched the La Conner Community News.
“Starting a local paper feels like both a daring leap into the past and a crucial investment in the future,” Mar wrote in her column, “Stop the Presses,” on Substack.
Post Alley editor Doug McLennan will lead a discussion with Mar this Wednesday about what she is trying to do in La Conner and how outlets like Post Alley and the La Conner Community News might be beacons of hope for local news. The event presented by Post Alley and Journalism & Women Symposium is free and open to the public. To register, go here.
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