A new model

Regular readers have seen the CN&R champion various causes over the years in the op-ed pages. We’ve advocated for everything from services for mentality ill and homeless individuals to support for local independent retailers and the arts.

This week, we’re asking the public to help fund local investigative and enterprise reporting via the CN&R’s new nonprofit arm in collaboration with the North Valley Community Foundation—the Chico News & Review Foundation. The aim of this newly minted organization is to conduct the in-depth reporting that ought to be taking place in our communities (see Second & Flume, by Melissa Daugherty, page 7).

In a perfect world, every city would have a vigorous newspaper—or newspapers—with a healthy stable of reporters, including at least one whose sole job is working on informing the public on complex issues. But that’s not the landscape of media today, either locally or nationally. The CN&R isn’t flailing like many other newspapers. In fact, our circulation is increasing, making us an anomaly in this industry. Still, we’ve recognized for several years that many important stories were going unreported because we don’t have the resources to dedicate a staff member to long-term investigations.

We have decided to do something about it.

Our goal is to fund a reporter to dig into government records, looking for things like waste and fraud, someone who has the skills to go deep on the social issues that service organizations struggle to address. But again, we need your support to make this happen. You can help us bring some sunshine to these subjects by donating to our nonprofit, the fruits of which will go entirely to this effort. Donations may be made online at nvcf.org/fund/chico-news-review-foundation or by check payable to NVCF/CN&R Foundation and mailed to: North Valley Community Foundation, 240 Main St., Ste. 260, Chico, CA 95928.

It’s an ambitious project. It’s an important project. And we hope the community will get behind it, because it has the potential to do great things.