Hello, readers.
Well, here it is primary day already. The election season has been underway for some time now. The candidates have been busily sharing their visions for Duluth, and all the media outlets in town (except for the Duluth Monitor) have been busily covering said visions.
Our decision not to participate is intentional. Here at the Monitor, we prefer to cover stories that have an actual effect on Duluthians and their tax dollars. Political candidates, however compelling their visions, have no true impact until they’re elected.
Sitting officials, on the other hand, have an impact with every action they take. No matter who is running for office, the business of government continues. Thus, we feel that coverage of elected officials and city staff is fundamentally more important and beneficial to our readers than coverage of candidates running for office.
Certainly, elections and candidates have value, and everybody wants to know the options. But candidates already get plenty of coverage from the mainstream media. Reporters love the election cycle. They don’t have to do anything except ask a few questions over and over with serious looks on their faces. That may be useful. But if everybody is doing it, we see no need for the Monitor to participate. Thank goodness. Give us a box of city contracts to review instead.
As for endorsing candidates, we don’t understand why newspapers do that. Who’s running again?
Many thanks to our 13 Patreon subscribers. You are the foundation blocks of the Monitor. Many thanks, also, to those who opted to write us personal checks in lieu of giving Patreon a portion of their monthly contribution. Personal checks (or even bags of cash shoved into our arms) are always welcome.
It does feel odd to run a business this way—giving people something for free and then asking them to pay for it. The main reason we decided to do it like this, of course, is that we’re fantastically generous. But we believe people will become sponsors, not merely because they appreciate our brand of journalism, but because they want to see more of it. That’s the simple equation behind our pitch for funds: The more money that comes in, the more articles we’ll be able to publish. Is that worth $2 a month to you? How about $5?
Reporters who cover Duluth are few. Those who cover Duluth like the Monitor does are fewer still. Your donation will assure that the Monitor thrives.
The Monitor’s Patreon account may be found here. Arrangements for personal checks and complimentary bars of gold can be made by messaging us through the Contact Us link in the masthead.
