It’s been a big year at VTDigger. We’ve traveled all over the state to bring you a wide range of enterprise reports — from the closing of four small colleges in Southern Vermont, to investigative stories about the stalled CityPlace development in Burlington, to daily news from the Legislature.
We are filling a news void. In 2019, we published 3,200 stories in 365 days, or an average of 8 stories a day — two to three times more than any other statewide news outlet in Vermont.
Healthy communities are informed communities. VTDigger has helped an average of 350,000 readers a month better understand the how entrepreneurs are “Making it in Vermont,” how an unfunded pension liability for state workers and teachers is impacting Vermont’s budget, and how climate change is driving people to Vermont.
None of this would have been possible without the support of our members. We are so grateful to the more than 2,000 people who have donated to our annual fund so far. There is strength in numbers.
If you stepped up to become a member last year, I hope that you will choose to do so again. If you haven’t donated, please consider investing in VTDigger as a way of ensuring quality journalism for all Vermonters this year.
Here are a few examples of the nonpartisan coverage you’ve powered with your donations:
- The U.S. Attorney cited our reporting in the May criminal filings against the two developers of Jay Peak Resort. In September, the federal government permanently shut down the Vermont EB-5 Regional Center partly in response to VTDigger’s reporting on the state’s cozy relationship with the developers.
- In July, Colin Meyn exposed that Vermont’s 911 contractor, FirstLight, was using state-banned Huawei equipment. After the story was published, Vermont’s Public Utility Commission launched its own investigation into FirstLight’s use of the foreign technological equipment.
- Since Kevin O’Connor published a four-part series on Catholic priest abuse, we have received numerous tips from victims that we are following up on. On a smaller scale, a story about campus violence at Norwich University prompted another student assault victim to come forward to tell his story.
Thank you for believing in the power of old-fashioned investigative reporting. And here’s to a fresh new year together.
With gratitude,
Anne Galloway
Founder and Editor of VTDigger.org
P.S. We are thanking readers who give $20 a month or a one-time gift of $250 or more with a free digital subscription to the New York Times.
Anyone who gives before Dec. 31 is eligible to win two airline tickets and a three night hotel stay anywhere in the lower 48 states. Many thanks to our friends at Milne Travel.
We are also grateful to Phoenix Books, which is making five $100 gift cards available to readers for our drawing on Jan. 3.
To donate a gift of stock, establish a planned gift, or bequest please call Florencio Terra at (802) 225-6224. Vermont Journalism Trust Tax ID #: 27-1553931
