Hey y’all!
It’s Erin, your local Spokane City Hall and politics reporter writing to ask you to consider becoming a paid member of RANGE.
Here are a few reasons you should consider kicking us $10 a month (or more!):
- A standard Netflix subscription costs $15.49 — $5.49 more than a standard RANGE membership. That means for less than the monthly cost of a streaming service, you can ensure the Spokane version of Gossip Girl — City Hall coverage — stays alive and well.
- That means City Council live tweets that capture the vibe of the room and aren’t reported by anyone else, like regular commenter Justin Haller calling Council President Betsy Wilkerson a c-word-, one-time council candidate Earl Moore praying for all of council’s souls and Charles (last name not provided) pitching the council on rollout LED dance mats.
- That means regular coverage of the city’s policy changes, including things that are approaching familiar challenges with new and innovative approaches, like my on-the streets story on the Spokane Fire Department’s Behavioral Response Unit.
- That means stories about the behind-the-scenes beefs and mean girl behavior at boards like the Spokane Transit Authority, which ends up impacting community and isn’t reported by other outlets — see The French-ing of Zack Zappone and “Do you follow everyone to the bathroom? Or just me?”
- We do so much with so little. Pull back the curtain and you’ll find three and a half people (shoutout to Aaron Hedge who does so much with only 20 hours a week), a couple of freelance editors and writers who contribute irregularly and two interns who were with us for a brief time and are already gone (RIP Holly and Pascal.) With that small of a team, we publish two weekly newsletters, regular news coverage, deep investigative stories, City Council live tweets and social media updates.
That’s not even measuring all the time we have to spend doing audience development, writing grants, chatting up funders and doing miscellaneous tasks. We’re crafty, full of grit and passionate about our community, so we make do with a little, but imagine how powerful we could be (and how empowered we could make you) with a team of six, 10 or even 20. And how do we get there? With your financial support 👀
- I love my job! I love writing news that holds those in power accountable. I love informing my community and empowering y’all to advocate for your needs and your community. I love it so much, I come home every week and do news briefs for my three 20-something roommates, keeping them updated on policies that will impact them and news happening at both the local and state level.
I don’t care if we agree on politics, if we have nothing in common, or if frankly, we’d hate each other if we met in person — I want to give you the information you need to understand what’s happening in the government and advocate for your community. If you email, tweet or skeet (it’s what they call it over on BlueSky) at me with a question you have about how to give public testimony, or how much a city policy costs the taxpayers or what a law moving through legislation in Olympia would mean for Spokane, I’ll do my best to find the answer! I am a reporter of the people and for the people, and for less than the cost of a hamburger and fries, a pair of pants at a thrift store or a latte at a bikini barista coffee shop, you can ensure I stay that way.
- If I never have to think about writing a fundraising email again, I’ll have so much more time to devote to writing the stories you know and (hopefully) love. Maybe I’ll even have time to write off-my-beat shit again, like stories on the economics of sex work or the appeal of renaissance faires. With a few more hours a week to not stress about money, I would be so powerful, and I swear I would use that for good.
- If we meet our fundraising goal by the end of the year, I’ll get the RANGE logo tattooed permanently, on my body, and send you a picture, as a thank you for your support.
In conclusion, RANGE does great, necessary, even life-saving coverage. We also write fun, messy, dramatic stories that keep you both entertained and informed, while helping you engage with the complicated systems that impact your life, whether you know what they’re doing every meeting or not.
You can help us continue to do that, and even do it better, when we no longer have to hope that one of us discovers a long-lost rich grandma who died and left her fortune to us. So please — I’m begging! Support us at whatever level you can afford, and I’ll love you forever and also never write you another one of these insane emails again.
All the best,
Erin~
PS: If you happen to be a rich grandma (long-lost or not), a rich non-grandma, or if you have rich friends who love local independent news that empowers everyone, we can take large, tax-deductible donations here.
