About Us

Often praised as “the glue that holds our community together,” the Key Peninsula News is a unique independent, reliable source of local news for the area. Readers depend on the well-written, informative newspaper to connect with their community; small businesses, government agencies and service organizations depend on it to communicate with customers and constituents.

For over 50 years, “the voice of the Key Peninsula” has provided local viewpoints on news, features and columns. Launched in 1973 as a newsletter for the Key Peninsula Civic Center Association, the Key Peninsula News has been financially and editorially independent since 2003. In 2023, with status as a nonprofit 501(c)(3) charitable organization, the newspaper achieved full legal independence.

KP News follows guidelines of the Society of Professional Journalists and its mission of “seeking truth and providing a fair and comprehensive account of events and issues.” Our content must be accurate, thorough, complete and fair in every circumstance.

A full-time editor is supported by a part-time associate editor, layout/design, operations, bookkeeping, webmaster/social media and ad sales staff, together with volunteer reporters, photographers, copy editors and a distribution team. As members of the Washington Newspaper Publishers Association since 2018, the team has won numerous awards in the “Better Newspapers” annual competition. Membership in the Institute for Nonprofit News connects the KP News with independent nonprofit news organizations nationwide and allows participation in NewsMatch through the Fund for Nonprofit News at the Miami Foundation. Additional opportunities, such as providing KP News readers with live 2024 general election results directly from the Associated Press at www.keypennews.org, was made possible thanks to a partnership between INN, the Google News Initiative and AP.

While many traditional community newspapers have struggled to survive, our print circulation has grown since 2018. Our donor list has grown even more, supporting more community news, colorful photos and features in every edition.

At no charge to resident readers, 9,500 papers are mailed to Key Peninsula households from Wauna south to Devils Head, with another 1,000 distributed between paid subscribers outside the KP and surrounding community libraries, schools, grocery stores, businesses, hotels and visitor centers. A popular website and social media adds thousands more viewers.

KP News is committed to transparency in every aspect of funding. We accept donations, grants and sponsorships without endorsing products, services or opinions. News judgments are made independently, without outside influence. We do not accept donations from anonymous sources, government entities, political parties, elected officials or other sources that present a conflict of interest with our work or compromise our independence to assign, review and edit content.

We operate as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit charitable organization, EIN 88-1782029. Donations to a 501(c)(3) organization may be tax-deductible. In 2022, income from ad revenue and subscriptions covered 65% of our operating costs with donations, grants and underwriting supported the balance of our budget.

Donors who provided $2,500 or more in 2023 were: Rob Otsea; Barb & Clark Van Bogart; Sara Thompson; Barb Floyd & Barb Doat; Larry Seaquist; and the Fund for Nonprofit News at The Miami Foundation (NewsMatch). A list of donors is published annually in February.

Our virtual office is not staffed on a regular basis. Please call 253 884-4699 or email editor@keypennews.org

Key Peninsula News
P.O. Box 3, Vaughn, WA 98394