Local donations to NewsMatch outpace national; Lee lays off at least 15 in Montana; postal rates for rural papers go up

Rural newspapers are taking another hit from the U.S. Postal Service, which announced last week that on July 9 that the preferential postage rate for papers mailed inside the home county will rise 8.8 percent. Rates for papers mailed outside the home county will rise 8.1%. "Newspapers have already absorbed nearly 24% in price increases since the Postal Regulatory Commission lifted the inflation-based price cap on postage for the 2021 round of increases," the National Newspaper Association notes. "More changes are expected in 2023 as many postal carriers will lose the ability to work from their local post offices and will be required to sort mail at central facilities within many geographical areas."

Lee Enterprises, the main newspaper publisher in Montana and a major publisher in the nation, laid off at least 15 newsroom employees last week, the Montana Free Press reports. Six jobs were cut at the Billings Gazette, including the education reporter; "at least four" at the Missoulian, two at the Helena Independent-Record and one at the Ravalli Republic in Hamilton. Lee also publishes the Montana Standard in Butte. "Most employees in those positions were laid off," MFP reports. "Some decided to quit and their positions will not be refilled, sources said."

Local contributors to NewsMatch, the year-end campaign that supports nonprofit newsrooms, out-gave national donors last year for the first time, giving 50.466% of the $10,936,561 it received for the 303 participating newsrooms from Nov. 1 to Dec. 31. "For many nonprofit newsrooms, NewsMatch is the most important fundraising campaign on the calendar," Sarah Scire reports for NiemanLab.

All the newsrooms are members of the Institute for Nonprofit News, Courtney Lewis, INN's chief of growth, called the tipping point “a more sustainable funding solution” for journalism, Scire reports. "NewsMatch has used growth in individual giving as a central marker of success, but Lewis implemented 'a strategic shift' in 2020 toward thinking about the end-of-year program as an opening for newsrooms to form relationships with more local and issue-based funders. The program now provides training and financial incentives to nudge newsrooms toward securing local matches."

NewsMatch generated $38 million in individual donations from more than 231,000 unique donors in 2022. The largest 50 newsrooms brought in $24 million of the $38 million total, Lewis said, and the median amount raised from individuals across all newsrooms was roughly $36,000.