📰 Inside CDN 03/09/26

From the editor’s desk: I asked. You answered.

Last week's Inside CDN question was intentionally open-ended: As CDN turns 4 years old as a hyperlocal news publication, how should our content morph as we move forward?

I appreciate the large number of thoughtful answers, most of which expressed kind support for what we're doing — and made well-reasoned requests for even more. (Sampling: More obits; more investigations; stay LOCAL; keep a print paper; why not some regular Shipping News?)

One suggestion, from reader Mary, stood out because it speaks to news-judgment decisions CDN's editors and reporters make on a daily, sometimes even hourly, basis: "Can you do more coverage of Bellingham School Board meetings?"

Short answer: Yes, but ...

Our award-winning education reporter, Charlotte Alden, already spends ample time in school board meetings: Not just in Bellingham, but all 14 districts in our two-county coverage area. (Nobody ever advertised this gig as glamorous!) Given that, plus her many other duties, which, as with other reporters, include enterprise reporting, investigations, breaking news and even our signature Faces in the Crowd and What's the Deal With? features she — and we — obviously have to be selective. I personally think her time is often more wisely spent.

That doesn't mean we ignore meetings. On local government beats, our reporters work sources and scan meeting agendas to try to ferret out news before it hits a vote from a policy body such as a school board. Charlotte is good at this, and also at recognizing general education issues that apply beyond school-district boundaries. Often, this allows us to preview a vote or public hearing before a government body takes action, then follow up with a story later with the results.

So to answer the question directly: Because of staff resources and our expansive coverage area, no, we won't be covering every, or even more, actual meetings to produce old-school (excuse the pun) style meeting coverage, highlighting one vote of perhaps some consequence, followed by a list of "other actions." That doesn't mean we don't keep an eye on the process, week to week and place to place. We aim to focus much of our reporting on a broader audience, honing in on individual school districts, cities, counties or other government bodies when specific stories merit attention on their own — or make an important larger point.

You can help guide us: Let us know when a particular issue of consequence is coming before your own school board, or what questions you might have about goings-on in your own child's classroom. Send tips to us at [email protected], or to Charlotte directly at [email protected]. (Also be sure to watch for her new education-focused subscriber newsletter, Report Card, debuting next Thursday.)

Sharp-eyed readers of CDN's Friday print editions might've noticed the change over the past two weeks: We've expanded space for more Letters to the Editor, one of our best-read weekly features, on page A6. This has long been a goal: Previous space constraints limited publication of five or six letters per week in the print edition. Many readers likely didn't know that we regularly publish as many as three or four times that number every week in our online letters section.

Letters usually go online at 9 p.m. on Tuesday nights, which is our normal publication time for "Wednesday morning" material. (And on the few occasions we're late, someone often seems to notice!) We'll take that as a compliment for the content. I'm a firm believer that a healthy letters section reflects an engaging publication engendering strong community discourse. CDN loves to see that happening here every week.

Our revamped newsletter system, organized and implemented by newsroom aces Jaya Flanary, Alana Marcum and a half dozen staffers, has been a great success, based on reader responses and our own stats that show "open rates" well above averages. That is a credit to you, our highly engaged audience.

To help fine-tune your newsletter experience, Alana, CDN's audience engagement editor, has prepared a short video walking through the steps to ensure you're getting all the newsletters you want — or just those you're most interested in. Check it out here.

Thanks for supporting your local newsroom. It matters.

As noted above, CDN has a number of extremely ... how do I say this ... devoted letter writers, some of whom fire off more than one missive to [email protected], or our online submission form, almost every week.

British Columbia Government News: "Adopting permanent daylight saving time." The B.C. government musters the (curling?) stones to do what America's cannot: Ditch the switch and adopt a year-round time format that fits on-the-ground (northerly) realities. See more thoughts on this in Julia Tellman's CDN story and my March 6 column.

Washington Public Disclosure Commission: Annual Report. Speaks for itself about campaign finance spending in the state last year.

Radio KAVZ 102.5, Deming: The Voice of Van Zandt. We hear you, South Fork Valley. Thanks for the tunes — and occasionally being my secret in-newsroom-alone evening companion.