Your support builds a better Free Press

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 29/11/2023 (706 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

My editor’s toolkit has recently seen the addition of what I call the “if nots.”

It’s a handy device that calibrates what the Free Press does in view of the gloomy state of the broader news industry.

For instance: If not for the Free Press, would there be any coverage of the local arts community, such as previews and reviews of new performances on local stages? Relatedly, if not for coverage by the Free Press, how far might ticket sales fall at Royal MTC, the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, the Manitoba Opera?

Shifting from arts coverage to sports: if not for the Free Press, how often would we read about any athlete beyond those who play for the Jets and Bombers? And recently, if not for the Free Press, would any local journalist cover those two pro teams when they are on the road?

On the news side, if not for the Free Press, who would tell Manitobans what’s happening at the legislature and at city hall? After an arrest is made, how would we learn the outcome of trials at the law courts?

The depth and breadth of all we produce in pixels and print makes the case on a daily basis that a strong Manitoba needs a strong Free Press.

However, the most important question in my toolkit goes something like this: If not for Free Press readers, where would this newspaper be?

Today’s news ecosystem is increasingly dominated by tech giants that have no problem blocking news on their platforms amid headlines about newsrooms being shuttered. Readers like you are critical to our bottom line. Thanks to loyal subscribers, we have a market share that most newspapers can only dream about.

And thanks to subscribers willing to go above and beyond, we have Free Press Patrons whose belief in the power of our journalism is demonstrated by a gift of $150, or in the case of many generous readers, even more.

We launched the Free Press Patron program a year ago as part of celebrations tied to our 150th anniversary. This upper tier of subscriber support includes a wide range of benefits such as exclusive experiences, a Patron newsletter that provides impact updates from our newsroom and a free subscription you can gift along with a special promo code to bring another reader into our fold.

As we renew this special program, we are adding a new feature, which will allow Free Press Patrons to help shape our coverage of important public issues. Essentially, this new experiment will invite our patrons to contribute to the development of a special investigative project — and to share advice and intel to strengthen our journalism.

As the Free Press marks our 151st anniversary on Nov. 30, we invite our first-year patrons to renew their support — and urge more readers to come aboard. (To learn more about the Patron program and to donate go to wfp.to/patron)

My ask comes in the days after Merriam-Webster selected “authentic” as its word of the year for 2023.

Given we are living in the “post-truth” age, worried about deepfakes and the spectre of deception by artificial intelligence, it makes sense we would gravitate towards a word that speaks to the trust issues of our time. We need something real. We don’t want imitations.

The hundreds of thousands of words our newsroom produces each week are part of what makes the Free Press authentic. The support we need from the community we serve is also real.

Free Press Patrons are tangible proof of the strength of our relationship with our readers, built on trust since 1872.

I look forward to welcoming as many of you as possible as Free Press Patrons and thank you in advance for allowing me to make this pitch on behalf of a newspaper with a proud past that’s committed to serving our city and province in the future.

Paul Samyn is Free Press editor

Paul.samyn@freepress.mb.ca

@paulsamyn