Here’s an idea to steal and adapt: Dig into community feedback to identify and bridge coverage gaps.
In 2021, The Post and Courier set a goal to raise $100,000 in 100 days to support its “Uncovered” investigative project, which reported corruption and misconduct in South Carolina. Readers responded by meeting the goal in less than a month.
“That was a realization of the importance of what we mean to readers, beyond them subscribing to the paper,” The Post and Courier’s president and publisher, P.J. Browning, said. “The value of our journalism is just incredible, and we should never underestimate that.”
Overall, The Post and Courier raised about $500,000. The funding helped offset costs such as FOIA request fees and travel expenses for reporters, and supported reporting collaborations with 18 community newspapers across the state.
Browning recalled early conversations with collaborators, when The Post and Courier asked fellow journalists at community newspapers: What’s that story you would tell if you had the resources to tell it?
