By Surveyor staff

Unlike other newspapers, the Surveyor does not have a billionaire owner or hedge fund calling the shots. We depend on readers to power our nonpartisan, independent journalism. Please consider subscribing to the Berthoud Weekly Surveyor so we can continue to keep you well informed about the important issues in Berthoud. Thank you.

Quoted from The Colorado Sun

“Voters rank “threats to democracy” as among the most important issues facing our country. A vibrant, free press is a fundamental pillar of a healthy democracy. That’s why freedom of the press is enshrined in the First Amendment to the Constitution.

Overall, 2,500 newspapers in the United States have closed since 2005, the New York Times recently reported. The country could lose one-third of its newspapers by 2025. That means fewer journalists to hold politicians, police and corporations accountable. Fewer stories on the impact of climate change, economic turmoil, education and public health. Lies and disinformation can spread unchecked. Injustice is unchallenged. The social threats that form the tapestry of our communities become unraveled.

“Democracy dies in darkness,” the Washington Post reminds readers every day. Democracy also flourishes in sunlight, and that’s why your support of local newspapers is so important.”

Embattled first-time Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y) has been in the news for all the wrong reasons since his election in Long Island last November. Alleged deception and even fraud accusations have been made against Santos since his web of lies has come to light. But it wasn’t the Wall Street Journal, Newsday or even the fabled New York Times that broke this story. It was instead the North Shore Leader, a small independently owned weekly newspaper based in Locust Valley, N.Y. with a circulation of 20,000.

They were the only paper to question Santos’ finances before the election last year. In September 2022 the paper wrote an editorial questioning Santos’ drastic increase in net worth. In 2020 his personal financial disclosures claimed he had no assets over $5,000. Fast forward to 2022, and Santos claimed on a more recent financial disclosure that his net worth was now $11 million.

With a media and news landscape that is consolidating, local independent journalism is more important than ever. The Santos example highlights how a small-town newspaper can also make national news. It was reporters on Long Island, not Manhattan that figured out Santos.