Time to take a short break and give thanks for independent journalism in Croton--and to those who have supported it generously.

Thirteen months of publishing without a break, 289 posts, nearly 1000 subscribers. Time to take a short rest (maybe.)

As The Croton Chronicle approaches thirteen months of non-stop publishing, it’s time for our small staff to take a short break—for about a week, we hope.

Of course, if there is news that really must be covered, we will cover it. That’s what we have done for more than a year now, day in and day out, averaging 5-6 posts each week. We know that not every subscriber reads every post, and that is fine. Not every story is going to be of interest to everyone. But from our analytics we know that a lot of them are.

One big reason is that the Chronicle has not only consistently stayed on top of Croton news, but we have broken many stories that villagers would not know about if we had not published them (we invite readers to take a look at the archives to see just how often that happens. The answer: Very often.)

On top of that, we have increasingly served as a platform where Crotonites of diverse views can publish Guest Editorials about topics of concern to them and the community. Contributors have included our mayor, a former mayor, and former Croton trustees, along with everyday village residents with intelligent opinions and the writing skills to express them.

In many ways, the Chronicle functions as a normal mainstream media outlet in Croton—even though it continues to ask tough questions when necessary (and that is often.)

Yet during all this time, we have maintained our independence. We’ve done that by forsaking advertising for a business model that is completely based on subscriber support. Because the Chronicle is not allied with any political party or political or social clique, we don’t have to worry (much) about offending anyone.

And subscribers have consistently shown that they value freedom of the press and opinion. We get complaints about some of our stories, but only very rarely—we repeat, only very rarely—does anyone cancel their sub because they did not like a story.

That’s a tribute to the people of Croton. Despite some very sharp political differences in our community, village residents have demonstrated that, overall, they put a high value on freedom of expression.

We want to give thanks to everyone who has supported the Chronicle over the past thirteen months in so many ways, including serving as behind-the-scenes researchers, advisors, tipsters, domain experts, and subscription campaigners.

And as always, if you are not yet a paid subscriber, please consider doing that. It’s cheap and easy:

And if you already are a paid subscriber, please consider giving a friend and/or neighbor a gift subscription for the holidays:

Thank you! Back soon.

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