This news can't wait
Dear Henrico Citizen Reader,
Our Drive for 500 is underway – and we’d like you to come aboard for the ride before the race is over! (OK, that’s enough terrible figurative language for now…)
We have about a month and a half to add 500 new members to our Citizen Collective membership program to help us make the Henrico Citizen’s local, independent news coverage sustainable in this new digital era. That’s right – just 500 new members will provide us with the financial support we need not only to continue providing the coverage you’ve come to expect but also to expand it – or even hire a new reporter.
Advertising revenues for local publications like ours have shrunk in recent years, and while most publications have enacted paywalls requiring you to pay to read their news, we at the Henrico Citizen never have.
It’s because we believe access to trustworthy, fair local news coverage is a fundamental human right.
But who’s going to pay for it? We can’t do this work for free, and we can’t hire the reporters we need in order to provide the most comprehensive coverage of Henrico without the proper resources.
That’s where you come in! If you value the work we do and the coverage we provide – and if you value the role an independent press plays in our democracy and way of life – we need your help today.
Join the Citizen Collective for just $75 or $150 – just like Frederick Kraegel, Brewster Brown, Michelle LaFleur, Stephen Martin, Suzanne Klaas, David Williams, Sharon Griffith and Carol Nitz have in recent days – and you’ll receive a number of benefits (including, at the top level, the chance to designate a nonprofit to receive free advertising with the Citizen).
You’ve seen plenty of emails like this before from other organizations, but I can promise you that no organization will value your contribution more than we will – it’s that meaningful to our ability to exist.
Become one of the 500 and help protect local journalism in Henrico County into the future.
All the best,
Tom Lappas, publisher
