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There's no question about it: 2023 was The Shoestring's biggest year yet in our 6+ years of bringing independent news to our western Massachusetts community. Successful fundraising in 2022 via the Institute for Nonprofit News’ NewsMatch program allowed The Shoestring to do more with the trust we have built up through our years of centering marginalized voices in our reporting. Some of our biggest stories this year include Christensen’s investigation into working conditions at cannabis grow facilities (co-published with The Nation magazine), Aina de Lapparent Álvarez’s work on a new law allowing undocumented immigrants to obtain driver’s licenses , and Shelby Lee’s multiple public records investigations of Easthampton police.
Yet our news landscape in western Mass continues to deteriorate, with corporate-owned daily papers shedding staff and whole departments and hiding what’s left behind paywalls. As The Shoestring has grown over time, we've been our community's local government watchdogs, investigators, and go-to source for news on undercovered topics like labor, the environment, education, housing, and social movements.
Your one-time and recurring donations are what make all this possible. Our fundraising at the end of 2023 brought in enough support from our community to keep producing quality journalism at roughly the same pace we have been. But we hope 2024 can be a year in which we expand our staff, pay ourselves more fairly, and bring you more of the western Mass stories you won't find anywhere else. Your contribution today helps us keep this vital resource free and accessible to our community — please give generously!
To see more of our work, check out our main website at theshoestring.org. Please note that those interested in donating via check can do so following instructions at theshoestring.org/donate. Please reach out with any questions to theshoestringmag [at] gmail.com.
ABOUT US: The Shoestring is an independent news publication in Western Massachusetts that provides in-depth and accurate journalism covering local politics, culture, and power. We bring you the stories, perspectives, and context that no one else does, from Northampton and across the Connecticut River Valley.
Read more at theshoestring.org
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