At the risk of paraphrasing Emerson, the purpose of a newspaper is not to make a profit but to be useful. The Chestertown Spy over the last four years has passed the Emerson exam since we started on June 3, 2009.
While the Spy has been blessed with strong advertising demand and sponsorship, which has kept our publication afloat, it has always been the intention of the Spy to transition into a non-profit organization. Unfortunately, the Internal Revenue Service has made it difficult for community newspapers to be certified as tax-exempt, for now, seeing unfair competition between nonprofit newspapers and for-profit media corporations. It appears this will not be resolved anytime soon. In the meantime, we hope our readers, advertisers, and sponsors will continue to understand our long term intention in this regard.
But back to Emerson, the trickier part is to assess one’s usefulness. For Emerson this meant, “to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived.” As we celebrate the fourth year of its publication, I believe the Spy has indeed made “some difference,” that we have existed.
The first test in this regard is readership. In 2012 alone, the Chestertown Spy reached the extraordinary milestone of having more than one million hits within a year, with a total of 1.5 million for all three operating Spies on the Eastern Shore.
And the second test is the number of absolutely unique readers (unique computer ID addresses) who come to the site at least once over a year. In 2012, 150,000 came to the Chestertown Spy, the Queen Anne’s Spy, and the Talbot Spy.
Other healthy indicators are that the average time of the time for visit is over three minutes and that the average reader views three articles during their visit. It is extraordinary testament to the regional and national interest in all things Chestertown.
But perhaps the most important test is the quality and range of our content. Does the Chestertown Spy cover the right news stories, and how fairly do we cover these important moments in the life of a community? And have we successfully captured Chestertown’s quality of life, in all of its rich manifestations — that is both genuine and well presented? In this regard, the Spy, and its sister publications, might deserve a passing grade, but we must and will continue to improve in the years ahead to reach the high standards we have set out for ourselves.
The work of the Spy remains an extraordinary example of what a special group of individuals can accomplish with limited resources. The publisher is particularly indebted to a small group of artists, journalists, conservationists, writers, poets, and opinion contributors for their dedication and passion for local news and arts.
Finally, as we start our fifth year of publication, it is important to stress that we must rely on community support from advertisers, foundations, and individual sponsors. We have been blessed with extraordinary backing in the past, and remain confident that with the help of local businesses, schools, health organizations, as well as individuals, the Spy will continue “to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference” in the years ahead.
Chestertown Spy Readership since 2009 Launch (Source Google Analytics)
Spies
On the staffing front, it is very sad to note that Andy Goddard will be leaving the Spy as associate publisher after two years of extraordinary help and support. In many ways, Andy has been one of the great forces of good for Downtown Chestertown since she opened Andy’s twenty five years ago. That spirit of nurturing the best of a community was lent to the Chestertown Spy when Andy joined the Spy in early 2010. The publisher is grateful for her many, many contributions to the Spy, and remains inspired by her love of Chestertown.
The Spy also welcomes Jack Elliott as general reporter and feature writer. A recent graduate of Skidmore College, Jack will be contributing to the Spy’s general coverage of Eastern Shore issues, as well as special projects. Wendy Costa, a along time contributor to the Spy, will become editor of our new North County section, with a special emphasis on Kent County’s small towns north of Chestertown.
Plans for 2013
Like the Chestertown Spy, the Talbot Spy under Jim Dissette and Kathy Bosin’s leadership is becoming an increasingly important alternative news source for Talbot County. We expect the TS to be financially self-sufficient in 2013 as a result of their remarkable local following and Facebook presence. I also expect to recruit a publisher for the Queen Anne’s Spy before the end of the year.
And finally, a Chestertown Spy model will launch this summer in the town of Ketchum, Idaho. A town of less than 3,000, Ketchum has become one of the most important recreational and cultural centers in the country. This will be the first Spy publication outside of the Eastern Shore and is viewed by the publisher as an experiment, testing the ability to recruit local staffing to successfully launch a e-newspaper.
Dave Wheelan
Publisher
Write a Letter to the Editor on this Article
We encourage readers to offer their point of view on this article by submitting the following form. Editing is sometimes necessary and is done at the discretion of the editorial staff.