Why we do what we do
Photo by Tori Stafford.
As I’m sure you’ve noticed, a lot has changed at Kingstonist.com in the past six months.
While many of the things Kingstonist was built on remain – interviews with local musicians, reviews of new restaurants, and editorial content focused on the issues that affect us all – the daily content from Kingstonist has expanded. And that all comes down to one thing.
When we (the owners of Kingstonist, AJ Keilty, Cris Vilela and myself, Tori Stafford) bought Kingstonist in April of 2018, we had one vision: to ensure that local journalism continues to provide Kingstonians with the information they want and need. For me personally, it happened almost out of necessity. I’ve spent well over a decade working as a journalist in and around Kingston, but the world of corporate media hasn’t made that easy for me. As sweeping layoffs have hit newsrooms, and publications folded, I’ve picked myself up, washed the newsprint off my hands, and pressed on. But there comes a point where the changing landscape of journalism and media is undeniable. And we are at that point.
Just last week, The Kingston Whig-Standard – Canada’s oldest continuously-published daily newspaper – announced that it would no longer be printing a Monday edition of the paper. A corporate media buyout saw the end of Metroland publications here in Kingston, and a handful of different publications and programs have either shrunk in size or disappeared over the past decade.
What we know is that the population hasn’t dwindled, nor has the demand for local news coverage. In a digital age where people are connected to the web a vast majority of their waking hours, creating a robust online news platform was the logical step we wanted to take to ensure local journalism remains here in Kingston. Owned by Kingstonians, with a team of local writers and personalities, Kingstonist truly is an independent publication rooted in this community – by Kingstonians, for Kingstonians. But we can’t do it without your support.
We at Kingstonist believe that the content we publish should be accessible to anyone. For that reason, we have decided not to put in a paywall where our readers would have to pay in order to access our content.
Instead, we’re asking our readers and followers to support us through monthly donations – kind of like subscribing to a newspaper. This will allow us to sustain our team and content as it is, but also to hire on more local writers to expand the variety of our content. For as little as the price of a good cup of coffee a month, you can help ensure Kingston continues to have local news and feature content available to all. We’ve also launched a line of Kingstonist garb you can purchase to show your support publicly (and also help us financially).
As more and more people turn to their computers, phones, and tablets for their news, Kingstonist is here to ensure local, community journalism is available to those who call Kingston home, and those who want to know more about this great city. Are you a Kingstonist?