Confidently taking our next step forward 

The Austin Monitor’s first big step forward came nearly two years ago when we removed our paywall and made our articles and resources free and fully accessible to the entire community. This was a big change for our small but mighty news organization and, frankly, it was risky. 

Ultimately, we made this bold decision because it was in service to a community in need. For a nonprofit news organization, this is the most important consideration. Since then, we have been reading the tea leaves and signals to see if we were right. 

Last year marked a pivotal and promising milestone to be sure, but one year of data is just not enough to make another big strategic push. Two years of data, however, gives you the information to determine an enduring trend, a clear sign and how hard you can push the gas (or slam the brakes). 

And it’s all forward momentum for the Austin Monitor. It’s not just that our topline monthly readership has remained significantly higher than our paywall years; it’s that more and more community members are making their way down our civic engagement curve to become more connected with where they live. 

People from all areas of Austin are advancing from one-time Monitor readers into habitual readers. Even further down the engagement curve is equally promising with our newsletter subscribers and member-donors growing by over 45 percent this year. Not to mention, our advisory council gained scores of committed leaders aligned with our mission.  

Likewise, our city shows no sign of slowing down, and we’re looking forward to 2024 bringing to the fore major discussions and decisions on housing, transportation and local elections. We’ll be there for you as you have been there for us, and with more and more people turning to us to understand the context and implications of the important issues shaping our community, we’re confident in taking our next big strategic step forward.  

Based on successful new Monitor initiatives, data, feedback and industry trends from that past two years, here’s what our next evolution looks like:  

• Elongated feature stories: rich, in-depth reporting that brings in extra context and perspective, like our look at what a search for a police chief might play out
• Enhanced news products: bringing in additional engaging and compelling storytelling techniques into our work like our local polling, data journalism, newsletters, news updates and front-page featured story collections 
• Evergreen resources: enduring reference sources that help community members gain a deeper community understanding, like our Key Topics and Players in This Article tool and the Del Valle Resource Guide
• Ecosystem partnerships: collaborating on mission-aligned reporting projects and initiatives with fellow community news organizations like KUT and Austin PBS
• Events in the community: proactively engaging community members through substantive discussions and gatherings that deeper our collective understanding and perspective like our City Summit and single-topic panel discussions

 

Perhaps the most powerful aspect of our nonprofit news organization is the trust reciprocity concept: We put our trust in the community to discover, follow, share and sustain our work, and the community, in turn, grants us the trust to serve as the go-to and respected local news organization. 

We promise we’ll keep working hard to serve you. This is our most ambitious year since the removal of our paywall and it will take more resources to support more full-time reporters and staff. We never do things alone, so we invite you to come with us and go deeper: 

If you’re a first-time Austin Monitor reader, keep reading.

If you’re a regular reader, sign up for a newsletter.

If you’re an Austin Monitor believer, become a financial supporter, aka Member, today.

As an added impact, we were awarded a special grant that matches donations during this end-of-year time frame. Simply put, now is the best time to give. 

Thanks for being with us, and we hope you’ll take the next step for you today. Your connection and leadership benefits us all.

Joel Gross is the CEO of the Austin Monitor.

The Austin Monitor’s work is made possible by donations from the community. Though our reporting covers donors from time to time, we are careful to keep business and editorial efforts separate while maintaining transparency. A complete list of donors is available here, and our code of ethics is explained here.