Editor’s note: We are grateful to Kris Ryan-Clarke at Mad Dog Graphics who donated her time to design the 2015 VTDigger annual report.
[V]TDigger grew by 32 percent in 2015 with revenues of just under $1 million.
We are a nonprofit media company. That means that instead of banking profits for owners or stockholders, we hire more reporters whenever we have two nickels to rub together.
Last year we leveraged most of a $229,000 surplus to increase staff in our newsroom from seven reporters and editors to a total of 11.
That’s because we believe that at a time when newspapers are still shrinking and the social media rumor mill is running full tilt, Vermonters now more than ever need more reporting on the facts. We are dedicated to making sure you have all the information you need about politics, state government, business and social issues.
As part of our investment in reporting, VTDigger last year hired senior editor and reporter Mark Johnson, education reporter Tiffany Pache, political reporter Jasper Craven, and energy and environment reporter Mike Polhamus. Morgan True became the bureau chief of our Burlington bureau.
This year VTDigger added Alan Keays, the former news editor of the Rutland Herald, to cover the alleged EB-5 fraud at Jay Peak.
We also hired three reporters to form a Southern Vermont Bureau, thanks to a $75,000 grant in February from the Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation in Oklahoma City. We stepped in to help fill a void formed by layoffs at local daily newspapers and hired three reporters — Mike Faher in Windham County, Jim Therrien in Bennington County and Adam Federman in Rutland County. Reporting by Therrien and Faher is shared with other media outlets — the Bennington Banner, the Brattleboro Reformer and the Commons. We are collaborating with these news outlets in a traditionally competitive media environment as a way to leverage resources and ensure that readers get the news they need.
In all, we have six reporters covering specific beats, such as health care, the environment, education, criminal justice, business and politics. This team of beat reporters brings their expertise to the Statehouse every year to ensure readers have an opportunity to weigh in on important legislation.
Ruth Hare, former news editor of the Times Argus, is VTDigger’s anchor on the news desk. Cate Chant is our copyeditor. Elizabeth Hewitt covers criminal justice and Erin Mansfield is our health care and business reporter.
We have made investments in reporting because we believe that rigorous daily journalism about complex matters is crucial to our democracy.
But we couldn’t have done it without you. VTDigger has grown quickly because of support in 2015 from more than 1,700 readers and 101 local businesses that support our news service. Donations increased last year by 104 percent, and underwriting grew by 29 percent. Grant income from 42 foundations represented 17 percent of our revenues. Fourteen media partners contributed to 6 percent of our budget last year.
If you want to keep VTDigger strong, please make a contribution here. We need to raise $206,219 by Dec. 31 to meet our budget for 2016.
Many, many thanks in advance for your support.
Anne Galloway
Editor, VTDigger.org
Executive Director, Vermont Journalism Trust
