In this week’s Georgetown Current there is a note from the publisher, Davis Kennedy, asking for donations for the newspaper. As he explains in the letter, with the closing of the Gazette Newspapers (by the Post) it took with it a regional advertising syndicate. And the Current Newspapers relied on that syndicate.
Seven years ago, the Washington City Paper wrote admiringly about the Current’s intentionally anti-modern business model. In a world where most other papers were strugglingly to keep afloat as they expanded into online news sources, the Current refused to do much more than dip a toe in the world wide web. And it worked.
At least it did.
The appeal cites the cost of delivery, and comes up with a moral subscription fee of $52 for each household. It’s far from clear what will happen if they don’t raise that money. Perhaps it just means no more doorstep free delivery. Which still would be a shame. (GM has noticed that he recently started getting the paper delivered on Thursdays, not Wednesdays. Maybe they’re already cost cutting?) A sad twist to this tale is that Kennedy actually tried to buy the Gazette newspapers. Oh well…
There’s something so perfect about the Current asking that donations simply be sent in by mail (you can also phone it in). No GoFundMe slick and easy web interface. No Kickstarter. No IndiGogo. Just an address, phone number and a promise of a free classified ad. To do it any other way would not be the Current way.
And god dammit if GM isn’t gonna give them the requested $52. GM adores the Current. From the front page articles covering stories 20 times better than GM; to the oh-so-cranky letters to the editor on topics big and small and very small; to the school sports scores. It’s all there every week waiting at your doorstep when you get home. Maybe that’s not worth $52 to you, but it is to GM.
The Georgetown Metropolitan 
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