A message from Karen Chase, President of Kent News, Inc., the publisher of The Kent Good Times Dispatch
We are incredibly grateful to each and every one of you who has supported us in our journey to bring a community newspaper, the Kent Good Times Dispatch, back to town. Together, we did it. We made 2023 the Year of the GTD.
The first edition of the GTD was published Oct. 12, with Editor Kathryn Boughton at the helm.
Although some called our mission to revive the publication “an impossible dream,” we persevered, thanks to the financial support of our first early donors – members of the John & Jane Greene Founders Circle – a few small grants, and a small but dedicated board of directors.
Over the summer, the board of directors felt it had enough money to publish the GTD on a limited basis and began planning for a date sometime before the end of the year. The launch was precipitated by an Institute for Nonprofit News (INN) NewsMatch grant program that would match funds up to $13,000 between Nov. 1 and Dec. 31.
While organizational activities were underway to launch the publication, we simultaneously organized a first selectman candidate debate, created a “Voter Guide for Kent’s Municipal Election 2023” and began our campaign to raise funds through NewsMatch.
We launched the KGTD on Oct. 12, just in time to announce and cover the selectman’s debate the next day. The town’s support was immediate.
As 2024 begins, we have a growing readership of more than 600 per week, and words of encouragement and praise—as well as dollars—that make us believe the GTD can be sustained.
We are delighted to announce we raised nearly $14,000 in funds that will be matched by INN. In addition, a friend of the GTD created a $13,000 Community Challenge Grant, which unlocked a $2,000 bonus.
We are thankful to the 106 people – including 76 new donors – who donated to this fundraising campaign. These new donors not only unlocked a monetary bonus during the NewsMatch program, but also illustrate how much community support we have, which is important for future grant applications.
In all, we will add approximately $43,500 to our coffers. All current and new funds will be used to enhance the GTD by hiring the editor full time, adding advertising as a source of revenue, collaborating with other news outlets to provide better coverage, expanding our board of directors, applying for additional grants, onboarding volunteers to write and/or take photographs, and updating the Voter Guide for 2024 elections (which includes early voting).
We also plan to introduce a series of fundraising and informative special events in 2024.
As a nonprofit, The Kent Good Times Dispatch needs continuing support. If you would like to become a supporter, visit https://kentgtd.org/donate/ or send a check to Kent News, Inc. at P.O. Box 532, Kent, CT 06757.
It takes a team to create a newspaper and as president of Kent News, Inc., I want to thank the current board of directors: Deborah Rose, vice president; Andrea Schoeny, secretary; Barin Rovzar; and our newest member, Kariny Amorim. I would also like to thank all past board members who helped along the way.
A big thank you goes to Editor Kathryn Boughton (who puts in many more hours than we pay her for) for creating a newspaper of which Kent residents can be proud.
I would be remiss if I didn’t mention Jonathan Matson of Matson and Associates, whose technical skills have made it all possible—from creating email lists, creating and maintaining the website, to managing article and advertising layouts. He is an indispensable part of our team.
We would also like to thank the Cyrus R. Vance Center for International Justice’s Lawyers for Reporters program for helping us with legal issues, and coordinating the two pro-bono law firms working with us: Willkie Farr and Gallagher for our 501(c)(3) and trademark applications and Proskauer Rose for our Employee Handbook & Employment Law documents.
The final thank you goes to all of you that read and look forward to the KGTD every Thursday. You are why we are doing this. You have shown us it is all worthwhile.
Karen A. Chase
President
Kent News, Inc.
www.kentgtd.org