Editor George Stanley: We’re here to serve public health.
But newspapers cannot exist without subscribers
When times get tough, our reporters head toward the trouble.
This was true when cryptosporidium entered our water supply and sickened thousands; when we had journalists in New York and D.C. on 9/11; when a Falk Industries gas line exploded in the Menomonee Valley; when a racist gunman attacked the Sikh Temple in Oak Creek; when an electrician shot five co-workers at the Miller Brewery just three weeks ago.
Our job is to report what we find, so you have accurate, trustworthy information to make smart decisions, help your neighbors, keep your family safe. This often includes stories we wish we didn’t have to write.
As we cover the coronavirus pandemic, we’re taking every step to ensure we’re being safe while helping serve public health interests. Our staff is working remotely, covering events but filing stories from home and the road. We’re applying the suggested practices we’re describing — keeping six feet or more from others, not shaking hands, conducting interviews by phone, shooting photos from a distance, staying out of quarantine zones.
Our reporters are using their knowledge and sources to find news you can’t get from any other outlet in Wisconsin. For example, health and science writer Mark Johnson, who wrote a major project about the rising threat of pandemics in 2017, learned of potential new treatments being studied that could begin saving lives within weeks, even without a vaccine.
We’re posting answers from the region’s top medical experts to questions you ask us. We’re publishing stories from health experts about what they’re advising family and friends to do. We’re continually updating each day’s breaking news and other running stories, such as what’s been closed, canceled or postponed, as well as things you can do to help others.
All public health stories are being provided free with no story count limits. We also offer a free newsletter to keep folks updated. You can sign up for it at jsonline.com/newsletters.
We’re providing this reporting at no charge, as part of our public service mission, but it’s important to know that our subscribers make it possible.
Independent, evidence-based reporting is in danger across our country, especially at the local and regional level. The digital economy has capsized the financial business model that long supported local newsrooms like ours. As advertisers pay Google and Facebook to follow potential customers around the internet, we rely on subscribers to sustain journalism that informs our democracy and serves public health.
I’d like to express my deepest gratitude to our subscribers.
For those who do not yet subscribe to the Journal Sentinel, we are offering a St. Patrick’s Day sale of $3 for the first three months of a digital subscription. That’s less than a nickel per day.
You can subscribe at jsonline.com /deal. You can also buy gift subscriptions for others who would benefit from this kind of reporting at jsonline .com/gift.
Thank you for reading the Journal Sentinel. I hope you all stay safe through this challenging time.
George Stanley is editor of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and USA TODAY NETWORK Wisconsin. Email him at george.stanley@jrn.com. Follow him on Twitter at @geostanley.