Happy Thanksgiving and Happy Holidays

'Tis the season to express our appreciation for your support

At the recent 30th Annual NW Examiner Community Awards event, editor and publisher Allan Classen offers a hearty thank-you and congratulations to award winner Rachel Clark for her many community contributions. Clark is the daughter of the late legendary Bud Clark, who served as Portland’s mayor from 1985 - 1992.

As we prepare the last Northwest Examiner of the year, we want to take a moment to thank everyone who has subscribed, donated, contributed stories and comments, and helped us keep local journalism alive.

A little over a year ago, we created the Northwest Local Journalism Foundation with one simple, audacious idea: That the people of this community would rally to preserve a kind of journalism that still believes in showing up, asking questions and spelling everyone’s names right.

You did more than rally. You have supported it. Through your generosity we’ve raised enough to put the paper on a sturdy financial footing and start imagining what else might be possible.

That belief is backed by numbers. We launched a daily digital edition on Substack in late February, and more than 2,000 people now subscribe. It’s a milestone that says something powerful about this community and its appetite for independent reporting. You’ve proved that people still want news that’s close to home, fact-checked and unafraid to ask hard questions.

Our daily reports are often serious, but some are just delightfully odd. One day we’re covering the city’s tangled homelessness issues; the next we’re rescuing a man from a bottle-drop chute. That’s what real local journalism looks like — the vital and the absurd, all within walking distance.

We’ve also opened our pages to guest essays and columns because if we’re going to claim to represent the community, we should let the community do some of the talking.

Of course journalism, like democracy, jazz and home-baked bread, always needs a little more yeast. We’ll keep asking for your support, not for marble offices or totebags but to make sure that in an age of noise Portland still has a clear, independent voice. Thank you for funding that voice, for reading, arguing, sending tips and for caring.

That’s the real headline.

Allan Classen, president

Kevin Cosgrove, secretary

Paul Gelormino, treasurer

Northwest Local Journalism Foundation

The Northwest Local Journalism Foundation is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, and all contributions are tax-deductible.