Ever since coming home from the Washington Newspaper Publishers annual convention in early October, it’s been hard to keep a lid on the excitement of bringing home another 24 awards to the Key Peninsula.
That’s what it feels like — bringing trophies home for everyone in our big family of readers, local, independent advertisers, and generous financial supporters in this community too. KP News is unique: it is something extraordinary that we make together.
I’ve never been so proud of anything in my life as I am of our incredible team built on the backs of mostly volunteers who go the distance time and time again.
Thank you.
Our stories are about you, the things that bring joy and add value to your lives. We write about what’s happening here that may affect your future or quality of life. We write about the history of this place with greater capacity to research than ever before, to fact-check from multiple angles and tie up loose ends to better understand our place in time today. We write not only about the people who live here but explore all the hidden places, the wonder of the magnificent beauty and abundant wildlife that exist here.
A reader wrote to me a while back to comment on a news article he considered misinformed. He said he had no idea how we could win so many awards, adding “It must be a pretty low bar.” This naturally made him my mortal enemy, at least for a few minutes until I cooled off and found myself laughing over the whole thing. In being instantly defensive of our opinions, and I include myself here, we cast aside opportunities for deeper understanding that only genuine listening can deliver.
He refused our offer to print his complaint as a letter to the editor.
That’s the beauty of living within a community — there’s a broad diversity of perspectives. There’s no need for pitched battles over different beliefs, and therein lies the beauty and potentially the greatest strength of America.
In a recent article published by the Associated Press titled "Local news sources are still drying up, but there’s growth in digital sites in metro areas,” David Bauder, who writes about the media for AP, wrote that the big picture for local news remains tough. An urgent need remains in rural areas.
That urgent need for trustworthy journalism has witnessed the steady rise of digital news producers, eliminating the expense of producing and distributing print newspapers. It sure works better than nothing.
But we still believe in the power of print journalism to deliver like nothing else can. And that takes all of you to make available to everyone. Reliable news and good stories about our home are priceless treasures.
As we approach the coming darkness of fall I am reminded of Thanksgiving several weeks away. This is the season to come inside and reflect, to share food, delight in one another’s company and be grateful for the people who have helped us along the way.
All the joy, all the possibility of inclusion and community happens right here within these pages. What would the Key Peninsula be without the newspaper to bring connection?
Most of us rarely drive much further south than our own driveways and some don’t even know their neighbors. We live in a roughly 63-square-mile community without any incorporated towns.
How would we connect? How would we learn more about where we choose to live and the many opportunities to engage right here? The digital world is overflowing with content, good and bad, that largely distracts instead of telling us about what’s happening where we live in the here and now.
A woman who lives in Poulsbo called me inquiring how to subscribe for home delivery, and especially how to get a copy of the October edition mailed as well. She heard about KP News from a lifelong friend who subscribes from Anderson Island. She was introduced to KP News when Pierce County ordered an additional 1,000 copies of the paper that included a four-page Key Peninsula/Gig Harbor/Islands water quality report on Puget Sound.
She became a subscriber on the spot. She told me local newspapers like KP News provide evidence of what’s missing in communities like hers and so many others.
The threads that make the fabric of our community are strong. We experience it intimately each month when survivors and families contact us to place an obituary. The name often rings a bell, the face in a photograph is familiar, and in the course of communicating back and forth, we discover a connection.
Key Peninsula News is the natural result and representative of the efforts of a whole community to create and nurture those connections. Our stories are about you and where we live together. Our contributors live here. We remain endlessly curious and hope you are too.
The KP does things its own way. Let’s do this. For today, for tomorrow and thereafter.
For more great photos of stories in this edition go to www.keypennews.org.
UNDERWRITTEN BY THE FUND FOR NONPROFIT NEWS (NEWSMATCH) AT THE MIAMI FOUNDATION, THE ANGEL GUILD, ADVERTISERS, DONORS AND PEOPLE WHO SUPPORT INDEPENDENT, NONPROFIT LOCAL NEWS
