Híjole, time flies!
It wasn’t long ago in September 2021 that we embarked on this project in local/regional news called The Border Chronicle with the help of a Substack local reporting fellowship.
As two longtime border journalists, we both felt that the U.S.-Mexico border needed a publication that provides context, analysis and on-the-ground reporting for the entire region, not just one section of border. Because whether you live in ambos Nogales, San Diego/Tijuana, Brownsville/Matamoros or los dos Laredos chances are you have a lot in common and are facing similar challenges from climate change induced migration to ever expanding surveillance and border enforcement.
Covering an almost 2,000-mile border, is an ambitious (and possibly crazy) idea, considering there’s just the two of us. But we have stuck with it. We’ve published more than 286 articles and podcasts since we launched in September 2021. And in this crucial election year where border disinformation is on overdrive, we are doubling down on countering false and dangerous narratives. We’ve published podcasts and articles including “How the Right Wing Hijacked the Border Narrative” and “Meet the MAGA media militia.” As well as hopeful articles like “The Garden at the Migrant Shelter” which offers a different reality to the chaos and doom narratives so often perpetuated by people who don’t live in the borderlands.
We’re also proud that this year we have been able to incorporate more perspectives and bylines in The Border Chronicle from the stellar Rio Grande Valley, Texas, reporter Pablo de la Rosa and investigative journalist Avery Schmitz to opinion pieces by Dr. Brian Elmore in El Paso and Carolea Hassard in rural Kinney County, Texas.
We’d like to continue to expand our coverage and include more bylines. That’s why we’re asking for your help on our 3rd anniversary. In 2022, Substack’s local reporting fellowship ended. And we made the crucial decision to continue with the newsletter on our own. Since the beginning, we’ve known that we need at least 2,000 paid subscribers to be able to make a living doing this. We currently have more than 11,400 subscribers, but less than 10 percent are paid subscribers. We are very thankful for you, our readers and podcast listeners, because without you we wouldn’t exist. But we’re not going to lie, it’s hard doing this on a shoestring budget while having to work second jobs. We’re hoping that at least 30 of you will become paid subscribers today and help us reach 1,000 paid subscribers for our 3rd birthday. A subscription is just $6 a month or $60 a year. Or even better, become a founding member for $150 and you’ll get a very cool Border Chronicle tote bag, and two additional subscriptions for friends and family. We also accept donations through PayPal to support our work.
Every dollar from your paid subscription will go towards our reporting, including gas money for travel, FOIA and public record fees, and health insurance and office expenses among other things. It will also help us pay our wonderful part-time editors Steev Hise and Pablo Morales, and other border journalists, so that we can continue to bring you more diverse voices and perspectives from the borderlands.
And we have one more birthday request. We’d like your honest opinion about how you think we’re doing and what type of coverage you’d like to see more of. Please fill out this short survey by Friday, September 6. We’d really appreciate your feedback to help inform our coverage for the November election and beyond.
Thank you for reading and supporting The Border Chronicle!
Un abrazo desde Tucson,
Melissa & Todd
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