by Peter Weinberger | pweinberger@claremont-courier.com

There’s no question 2024 — our 117^th year of publishing — has been a rollercoaster ride for Claremont’s community newspaper. And though challenges lie ahead, I say with confidence that nothing will stop us from continuing to produce award-winning fact-based local journalism in 2025. In fact, the Courier staff feels our jobs will be even more important over the next four years, during which we will be reporting each and every day.

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I want to assure everyone we will continue to publish our print edition, especially after effective cost reductions and modest advertising revenue increases over the past six months. The print edition continues to bounce back from the inflation-related setbacks that raised our production costs by more than 25%. But by reducing our costs by $110,000 this year, we were able to keep our lights on and the presses rolling.

But some of these cuts, though necessary at the time, are not sustainable, and must be remedied in 2025. At the top of that list is hiring another staff reporter. Which is why I’m reaching out to ask our biggest supporters to please consider an end-of-year donation. Right now we are $26,000 short of our 2024 fundraising goals. A successful year-end donation drive could mean the difference from us being in the red or the black.

Connecting our community

I continue to be amazed at our impact on the Claremont community. Through mid-November this year we have donated about $17,000 in free advertising to help local nonprofits promote their missions. That includes the Claremont Chamber of Commerce, Claremont Heritage, Ophelia’s Jump, Pilgrim Place, University Club, both Rotaries and Kiwanis clubs, Claremont Lewis Museum of Art, The Economy Shop, Trinity Youth Services, and CLASP, to name just a few.

Remember the Bridge Fire that burned 50,000 acres just north of us in September? Our website logged more than 120,000 views for that series of stories. The November elections over 51,000 views. How many of you read the Police Blotter and check out our calendar? How about obituaries, or the real estate section, dozens of news briefs (Our Towns), Readers Comments and our award-winning opinion columns? There’s the incredible photography from the land and air, and profiles of local residents. Let alone our City Council and school district coverage. Like puzzles and crosswords? Or our email newsletters? We’ve got those too. We produce more than 1,200 stories a year in print and online, all for $8 a month!

My point is how would Claremont get local fact-based information without the Courier? Our town would be a news desert. We provide a vital public service, all for the price of a large latte at Starbucks.

Each contribution we receive, big or small, makes a difference. They all keep our little newspaper printing and posting, for you. Please consider being part of our 117-year mission to keep Claremont informed.

Have a wonderful holiday season, and thank you for reading and donating to the Claremont Courier. Peter, Betsy, Mick, Anna, Dee, Andrew, Grace, Skylar, Morgan, Matt, Tom, Kate, and Richard are truly grateful for your support!

This list of our top donors is only a small sample of the people who support the Courier’s mission of publishing fact-based local news.