Up Front: News desert not welcome in Tribune territory

Jan. 28—Sticking together as a community is so important — and easier said than done.

With your support and involvement, we think your Lewiston Tribune can help.

There is all sorts of evidence across the country that bad things happen in communities without local news providers — low voter turnout, no one to hold local government and institutions to account, unethical practices going unchecked, misuse of power, tax and bond increases, and even more polarization and misinformation.

Setting aside unavoidable differences of opinion, it's proven that a community is strengthened through local journalism that delves into genuine stories about real issues and people beyond mere government-issued news releases.

Together with the talented Trib journalists who — just like you — live, work and play here, we can make a difference.

We thought you — one of our 40,920 daily readers, our true bosses — would want to pitch in and help.

So, here's a list of 14 easy-to-do things to preserve and protect one of our nation's last of 86 independent community newsrooms and ensure we continue our 131-year streak of covering local affairs, and the good deeds of you and your neighbors.

1. TheTribuneShop.com: Peruse our first-ever line of sweatshirts, T-shirts, hats, mugs and Nalgene water bottles featuring Spokane artist Chris Bovey's take on the iconic 1960s-era neon green Lewiston Tribune sign. Plus, order photo prints from our award-winning photojournalism staff.

2. Nonsubscribers and subscribers alike, sign up for our free newsletters: Business Editor Elaine Williams' weekly newsletter will keep you plugged into local business happenings. Mary Stone's weekly Inland 360 events newsletter gives you fresh date night ideas or new family adventures. And the free daily headlines and obituary emails are another way to stay up to date, too.

3. Subscribe: Already a subscriber? Nudge a friend.

Remember, we're a business — dollars in must exceed dollars out.

Or, if you're one of the 1,000-plus readers borrowing a username/password, pick up your own subscription, please. We'd love to keep running on the honor system and avoid the Netflix-style crackdown.

4. Our new app: Join our fast-growing base of 3,402 readers enjoying the free app we launched in June, which is Apple- and Android-friendly. Easy reading and the push notifications are a great complement to our regular print and digital editions.

5. Buy Local: Evangelism is not too strong of a word. You've seen our Made By Us, buy local campaign aimed at supporting all local businesses. It's been built and managed over the last four years by our digital marketing agency, Studio 1892, with the support of 10 major sponsors.

Every dollar we spend at a local store (versus with Jeff Bezos and Amazon) stays in our town and bounces around at least three times to our neighbors and friends.

6. Breaking news text: Thanks to our partners at Inland Cellular and QPins, text 55678 to LMT and be in the know when something important goes down.

7. Write a letter to the editor: Join the conversation. A sound democracy requires an exchange of ideas. If you've never written a letter to the editor, give it a try. Signing your name to a letter in print carries a different weight.

8. Inland 360: Strengthen our region's cultural ties in art, music, family, education and entertainment by taking advantage of the free comprehensive online calendar at inland360.com and in print every Thursday.

If you're an event organizer, remember it's free to add your event to the calendar. We want everyone to have access to information about events and entertainment to help you connect with things that matter to you.

9. Share your snaps: Share a fun photo with us and it will be eligible to run in the print editions of the Tribune on Wednesdays, or daily in the Moscow-Pullman Daily News' Reader Photo of the Day.

10. Continued patience: Today's media world is ever-changing. And thanks for your patience as we continue to evolve. One heads up: We've got a redesign coming. We're pushing local and regional news forward in our print and digital products, and national and international will take more of a back seat.

We've learned in our Save Local News sessions that readers want local, local and local. National news is ever-present on every device and tends to be more polarizing. More on this project soon.

11. Our archives: Try looking up the paper from the day you were born. You'll find stories that define our past and where we've come from — good and bad.

Dating back to our start in 1892, you'll find rich stories about our neighbors, our mayors, our governors, our congressmen, our business owners, our veterans, our athletes, our kids, our grandpas, our grandmas, dads and moms — my favorite.

Search results are free, and access to full-length stories in our historic archives cost a few bucks. Take a look.

12. Feeling social: If you're not already, follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. We are going to dip our toes into TikTok soon.

13. Advertise with us: The pre-COVID closure of our area's major retailers — Macy's, JCPenney, Kmart, Bi-Mart and Shopko — had a drastic impact on all local media.

Yet, most of the fuel for what we do in news, sports and photography is still depends on ad revenue, along with subscription dollars.

If you're in business, keep us, and other local media, in your marketing budgets balanced with the out-of-town, big tech (YouTube, Google, Instagram and Meta) giants.

Our cross-platform marketing visibility and reach remains historically strong — a reflection of the print and digital editions (web, mobile, e-edition, e-newsletters and app) mix. Plus, pick up some time on our new venture, Idaho's first animated video billboard network, GanderDigital.com, for total market coverage.

And share family celebrations such as birthdays, anniversaries and graduations with an imaginative advertising design in the Tribune and on the billboards, too.

Super easy. One call. Low cost. And keep your dollars local.

14. A Tour: Pull together a group of eight to 10 people and contact me for coffee and a 30-minute walking tour of our operation. We're working so hard on diversifying our business to underwrite the free press, and we'd love to share our story and a glimpse at the efforts of our amazing employee/owner staff hustling every day in downtown Lewiston.

We're passionate about preserving and protecting local news.

But at the end of the day, local journalism is not going to survive without broad community support.

Here's my ask of you: Grab a couple items off this list, and let's talk.

Alford is editor and publisher of the Lewiston Tribune and Moscow-Pullman Daily News. He can be reached at alford@lmtribune.com or (208) 848-2208.