A rather momentous turn of events has unfolded for Kingston Wire, and since it could affect our ability to continue to publish we would like to let you, our loyal readers, know all about it. An important funding source for us has abruptly withdrawn support, and we are now faced with a significant challenge to make up for it. But first, some background.

In the spring of 2020 a great Kingston newspaper, the Kingston Times, ceased operation, letting the entire editorial team go. Among those who lost their jobs were Dan Barton and Jesse Smith, two veteran journalists with decades of combined experience covering the City of Kingston and the surrounding area. They are a priceless cultural resource for the city, and without a newsroom to practice their craft that resource was in danger of being lost.

The award-winning Shawangunk Journal, a newspaper covering the Rondout Valley south of Kingston, and Radio Kingston, a local radio station in the city, both understood the importance of preserving this irreplaceable team and decided to work together to keep Jesse and Dan reporting on the city. It worked like this: the Shawangunk Journal would create and run a new independent newsroom — the Kingston Wire — based in Kingston and employing Jesse and Dan. Radio Kingston would fund half of the team's salaries and receive a daily newscast from Kingston Wire for broadcast on the radio station. For the first year this support amounted to $31,200.00. Given that the total budget of the Kingston Wire for the first year was just under $100K, this is (or, sadly, was) a huge part of the budget.

We thought everything was going just fine — until we started talking to them about renewing the contract. Kingston Wire got pulled into what we guess we could call the “NoVo Triangle” — a frustrating zone of unreturned phone calls, deals offered, changed and then pulled back, and waiting, like desperate courtiers hanging around the king’s bedchambers for just a few precious moments of His Majesty’s time, on NoVo Central Command to issue their decision.

To make a very long story short, Radio Kingston unilaterally decided to no longer support Kingston Wire. What it came down to, according to them, was a disagreement on Kingston Wire’s content — they thought we didn’t pay enough attention to climate change and, in a case of apparent lèse-majesté on our part, didn’t write enough stories on all the good things NoVo was doing in town. One might think that in the entire year we worked together, if Radio Kingston had suggestions or serious concerns, they would have brought them up. But no, we only heard about them at the end, which makes them seem to us like rationalizations hurled by a jilting lover as they head out the door. Relationships are like that sometimes — one party, rather than proactively trying to work problems out as they come up in real time, accumulates grievances until they feel justified enough to unload them all and walk away.

Ultimately, Radio Kingston is free to do as they like — we have no more control over them, or their sole source of funding (NoVo) any more than anyone else in Kingston does. We acknowledge that Kingston Wire probably wouldn’t have happened without them. Back in the day, there was a lot of talk about the value of community journalism and what a loss it would be for Kingston if Dan and Jesse were no longer covering the city. Obviously, we still feel that way, but Radio Kingston? Obviously, they don’t.

Maybe it’s for the best: over the past year, more than a few people have come up to us on the street or at the Kingston Farmers Market asking with more than a hint of suspicion if we were part of NoVo. Considering that Peter Buffett’s “experiment” on Kingston rivals gentrification as the biggest story in town, it seems there wasn’t a way to independently and objectively report on NoVo without getting on their bad side. Whether Kingston Wire is “independent” or “renegade” is all about perspective, we suppose. We do know that if you’re trying to do things without drawing attention to yourself, the fewer nosy reporters around, the better.

Regardless of whether NoVo thinks independent journalism is worth paying for, we certainly do. Over the past year, we have built up a diverse readership who appreciate what we bring to the local journalistic landscape — hundreds of articles focused on the lives, businesses and political dealings in Kingston, written by people who understand the city, with context and history to give a deeper meaning to these topics that affect us. We’ve put out countless exclusives, gotten inside the crime situation in Midtown in a way no one else has, and we are the only ones writing local editorials, becoming a strong voice for local issues and individuals, in a time when institutions are exerting a more powerful role in all our lives. We also host a variety of opinions and viewpoints, and are actively involved in the community, and in finding out what YOU would like to read about. And please know that besides being cast adrift, last year has been phenomenal for Kingston Wire: 5000 registered readers, a dozen regular contributors, great journalism and great plans for the future, including an exciting upcoming project with local student journalists!

We’re going to have a Year Two, but we are actively pursuing new ideas and other funding streams to make it happen. Look for some fundraising efforts in the coming weeks, and in the meantime please know that your support means everything to us. In a time where more and more power is concentrated in institutions — some of them, like NoVo, completely unaccountable to any electorate — we need reporting that sticks up for regular people now more than ever.

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UPDATE 10/29/21:

To all our readers:

The outpouring of concern and support in response to our most recent editorial has been astonishing and truly humbling. Many of you have asked how you can help, so to that end we have set up a GoFundMe here.

Any and all contributions, no matter how modest, make a real difference for us, and will help Kingston Wire continue to publish for years to come.

Thank you