The next chapter in local news

On a Sunday afternoon in February, a dozen or so residents gathered in a Katonah living room to commiserate over the loss of the community’s local newspaper which had abruptly shuttered just a few weeks earlier. Yes, we still had social media to connect with neighbors, learn about tag sales and post about lost pets. But, we agreed, those channels rarely provided reliable, professionally-sourced information and were ill-equipped to hold government, school and other officials to account.

Out of that initial meeting an idea was born: Create a local nonprofit to serve the community’s need for independent, nonpartisan, quality journalism. The vision was to develop a weekly print newspaper and website connecting all residents, civic organizations and businesses in the towns of Bedford, Lewisboro and Pound Ridge — a sizable portion of northern Westchester encompassing nine hamlets and a combined population of roughly 28,000.

A few friends and media experts who heard about our plans called us crazy. We understood where they were coming from; after all, recent history was not on our side. Internet and mobile technology, changing habits of news consumption and a precipitous decline in advertising revenue together have decimated the national and local news industry. In recent years, over 2,600 newspapers across the country have closed, resulting in hundreds of counties becoming “news deserts,” with the void too often filled by social media misinformation or hyper-partisan “ghost” newspapers. Numerous studies confirm that such a void can result in increased polarization, less government oversight, less effective schools, lower arts participation and sports engagement, fewer opportunities for businesses to attract customers, and a general decline in civic involvement.

That wasn’t the future any of us wanted for our community. Inundated with interest and support from countless like-minded neighbors, volunteers formed a working group with the goal of building a community news organization from the ground up. To help insulate us against the industry’s economic headwinds, we chose a nonprofit business model that relies mainly on support from community members in the form of annual subscriptions and voluntary donations, as well as from advertisers. Our application to become a tax-exempt nonprofit won IRS approval and we are now a 501(c)(3) that can accept tax-deductible donations. In the spring, we successfully began to raise  funds from dozens of generous local donors who shared our belief in the essential role of independent local journalism. We are grateful to every one of them and to Northwell for signing on as our founding underwriter sponsor. 

We assembled a team of award-winning journalists, editors, photographers and graphic designers. And we came up with a name — The Recorder — to convey our mission of chronicling local life. Soon after, we learned while researching one of our first stories that we are in good company. A newspaper called The Katonah Recorder preceded us by more than 150 years, and signs of the defunct publication are still visible. Last week, a family doing home renovations in the building that once housed the Hoyt Bros. Furniture Store uncovered in their floorboards tattered pages from the paper’s Jan. 7, 1896 issue. 

With this inaugural print issue of The (new) Recorder, we are happily following in the footsteps of our journalistic ancestors. We are most focused on the future, taking the needed steps to build a financially sustainable organization.

We look forward to your support of The Recorder as well as your feedback. Suggest article ideas. Share your photos. Submit letters to the editor on local topics. (See contact details at right.) And please help ensure the vitality of The Recorder as a new community nonprofit by subscribing and donating.

Thank you for being a Recorder reader and joining us on this exciting new journey.

Ed Baum, Karen Sabath and Lloyd Trufelman

Board members and co-founders

The Recorder News Inc.