by Paul Bass | Dec 13, 2018 8:32 am

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Posted to: Hamden, Media

Hamden is becoming a “news desert.” So much important news is happening in the town; so little of it is covered.

I’m inviting you to help change that, gradually.

I edit the New Haven Independent. We’re a nonprofit, public interest news website that has covered New Haven for over 13 years.

Many people in Hamden have encouraged us to cover Hamden, as well. We think it’s a great idea. Hamden and New Haven have become more than neighbors: From schools to transportation to economic development to culture, our dreams and our challenges are linked.

I have tried without success the past two years to raise the money to enable us to launch a Hamden edition of the Independent or to hire a full-time Hamden reporter.

Over the past couple weeks, we have experimented with a “pop-up” Hamden beat. Just to see what it would look like. A short-term intern named Sam Gurwitt has reported on the monumental school redistricting plan, on home sales, and on the inland wetlands commission. Click here to view our recent Hamden stories.

The experiment has reconfirmed our notion that it would be valuable (and exciting) to provide more Hamden coverage.

While we don’t yet have the money to fund a permanent reporting beat, we can begin doing some regular coverage of the town. With your help.

In the month of December, our organization is participating in a national “News Match.” The Knight Foundation has arranged for national funders to match dollar for dollar all individual donations of up to $1,000 to our organization and to some 150 other nonprofit news sites across the country.

So here’s a deal: If you make a contribution this week or next of between $120 and $1,000 to the Independent — and mark the contribution as being for “Hamden coverage” — we promise to spend that money, and the matching money it attracts, to fund coverage of news events in the town in 2019.

Sound good? If so, please click on this link to make your donation, and write “Hamden coverage” by clicking “Add a Message to this Donation.”

If 25 people donate $1,000 each — that, along with the “News Match,” will fund a full-time reporter for a year.

If 50 people donate $500 each — that, along with the “News Match,” will fund a full-time reporter for a year. Same goes if 100 people donate $250 each.

Whichever amount sounds right, welcome aboard the ride! Here’s to a fruitful communal journey.

Sincerely,



Paul Bass

Editor

New Haven Independent