Today is World Press Freedom Day. In Croton, that means supporting local journalism in all its forms.

Croton has two publications that report intensively on the village: The Gazette and The Croton Chronicle. You need to read both to know what is happening, and both need your continuing support.

Note: This post is free to all readers. But a free press needs your support, today.

In 1993, the United Nations General Assembly designated May 3 as World Press Freedom Day. This year, the main theme is journalism in the face of the environmental crisis, and as usual, UNESCO is taking the lead in making sure that the day is widely noted.

But for us here in the village of Croton, press freedom may have a different meaning: The importance of the survival of local journalism. Even in big cities, media outlets are going under, severely cutting their staffs, or being taken over by equity and hedge funds managed by investors with little interest in serving the public. Outside of major metropolitan areas, many smaller communities are fast becoming “news deserts,” increasingly bereft of any local media, and/or deprived of local journalists able to cover what is happening in their own communities.

This looming problem has been the subject of several recent books, such as “Ghosting the News” by former New York Times public editor (and Washington Post media columnist) Margaret Sullivan, and “Hedged” by Margot Susca, a journalism prof at American University in Washington, D.C. The good news is that many journalists are fighting to save local journalism (for examples see here, here, and here), and some political leaders, including New York governor Kathy Hochul, have supported legislation to help out, including tax breaks for hiring local journalists.

We are lucky here in Westchester County to have a number of local news outlets, although it is not all luck: Across the U.S., wealthier communities have more access to local news, although not all local publications have real, live journalists living in the communities they cover.

In Croton, we have two publications run by journalists who live in the communities they serve and that provide on the ground coverage, The Gazette and The Croton Chronicle. They are very different, but also very complementary; being well informed about what goes on in Croton requires subscribing to both.

The Gazette, of course, is a print publication, published and edited weekly by Gary Cahill, which serves Cortlandt, Croton, Buchanan, Crugers, Montrose, Verplanck, Ossining, Briarcliff Manor, and Scarborough. It has been designated by Croton’s Board of Trustees as the village’s “official” newspaper, and provides often detailed coverage of village meetings, events, and people; it gives major space to sports coverage, music happenings, and obituaries, and its letters page is a legendary forum for public discussion of issues in our local communities (with Croton and Ossining readers seeming to dominant those pages.)

You can, and should, take out a yearly subscription:

The Croton Chronicle, which publishes only online, and when its editor, Michael Balter, decides a story is worth posting—usually about three or four times per week—might be called Croton’s unofficial publication. It focuses almost entirely on Croton, and provides investigative and in-depth reporting of village affairs and issues; but the Chronicle also publishes frequent profiles of Croton people from all walks of village life. Although the Chronicle does not (yet) publish letters to the editor, it has a comments section and recently inaugurated a Guest Editorial feature to provide diverse viewpoints.

So while we are lucky here in Croton to have two local publications and two local reporters, we should not take either one for granted. Without your support—and that means, of course, taking out a paid sub—they can die. So many communities around the country have woken up in shock to find that their local newspaper or media outlet had gone under, the victim of the merciless economic forces.

Obviously, we cannot have a free press if there is no press to be had. So please celebrate World Press Freedom Day by taking out paid subscriptions to both The Gazette and The Chronicle, if you have not already. They are each a remarkable bargain for those who want to be well informed about what goes on in Croton, which we would hope is everyone who lives here.

We need both, and both need you.

Comments policy: Please be polite and respectful.