Welcome to a news website devoted to local journalism for Yachats and south Lincoln county
Residents of Yachats are very interested and involved in their community – and very demanding of it. But the demise of traditional media and news coverage by even the smallest newspapers has left a void of clear, contextual, straight news reporting to help people understand what is going on.
This news site is one person’s attempt to fill that void. It will have news of local governments, events, businesses and larger trends affecting Yachats and south Lincoln county. It should be of interest to the people who live here and the thousands who visit every year.
The site is owned and managed by Quinton Smith, a Yachats resident with a long and distinguished career in Oregon newspapers. In addition to reporting and writing local news stories, he will provide links to stories and information around Oregon and the Northwest that might be of interest to readers.
YachatsNews.com went live Friday, Jan. 4, 2019. Since then it has grown from 750 “page views” every month to nearly 30,000 as of May 2020. It has added freelance writers to augment and expand its work and is now offering other content including Oregon politics and state government news provided by Salem-based reporters from a consortium of Oregon newspapers, local police reports and news, weather data, and letters to the editor.
Five months after its start the site began carrying local advertising to help businesses and events spread the word of their services. If that interests you, please see the link for advertising rates and contacts. All ads are handled by Tiffany Sullivan of Blue Sprocket Brokerage. But other than a little advertising revenue, the cost of the site and news gathering efforts are born by its owner.
The site allows comments on stories by readers, but they will be screened for content and appropriateness before being published. YachatsNews.com is not Facebook. Critical comments will be fine; disagreement is fine. What will not be permitted are personal attacks, hate speech or off-topic comments.
While the site started carrying “letters to the editor” in late 2019, it does not have opinion pieces or editorials. If people read a balanced news report that has context, they should be able to make up their own minds.
The site will be updated whenever new stories or links are published, which should be two-to-three times a week. You can sign up for alerts from YachatsNews.com on the site’s home page.
YachatsNews.Com will be “dynamic” – changing and evolving as we discover what elements work and what doesn’t. What won’t change is straightforward local news coverage.
Welcome to local journalism.
You can support local journalism with a donation
The additions and regular, ongoing work takes a small amount of money. In 2019 YachatsNews had $1,300 in net income from advertising but $4,500 in expenses – for website maintenance and development, paying freelance writers, materials, supplies and just the small everyday costs associated with newsgathering.
In order to keep the site filled with local news and entertainment stories, I plan to use more freelance writers this year. I don’t need or want to make money from the site, but I’d like it to break even, even as I add content and expense this year.
Throughout the year I have received many messages of encouragement, appreciation and support. Several people even suggested they would be open to helping the effort financially, in a small way.
So now there is a “Donate” button in the “Menu bar” of the site where you can make a donation through PayPal. You can also just write a check and put it in the mail. That information is also on the “Donate” button.
If donations somehow reach a break-even point I will shut down solicitations until next year.
With the advent of Facebook and other social media sites, people and many businesses are not used to paying for news, information (or misinformation) and services. Most good, traditional news organizations have their content behind pay walls.
While YachatsNews is not perfect or necessarily comprehensive, I believe it offers valuable, local community information and professional journalism. I think there is value in that. Any support you can provide to help YachatsNews break even financially is appreciated.
If you have questions or comments, please you can email me at YachatsNews@gmail.com or simply call me at 503-970-3867. I’d be happy to answer any questions.