Local news matters

In far northern New Hampshire and Vermont, many residents feel overlooked by policy-makers in state capitals far to their south and in media coverage centered in more populated areas.

But a growing number of people credit two nonprofit, online news organizations with bringing attention to local issues and helping local voices be heard.

InDepthNH.org and VTDigger help to fill widening gaps in traditional news coverage, including a strong focus on northern-tier issues and events that often have statewide or regional impact.

“We think that at Digger, we can elevate stories to a statewide level of interest to all Vermonters, and make sure that the experiences of all Vermonters are reflected in our coverage,” said Managing Editor Neal Goswami.

Nancy West, executive editor of InDepthNH.org, said that’s been her goal for northern New Hampshire news since she founded the outlet in 2015.

“Our mission is to hold the powerful accountable and give voice to marginalized people, places and ideas,” she said. “And our thought was always: ‘Which areas don’t get a lot of coverage?’”

The Charitable Foundation’s Neil and Louise Tillotson Fund is a long-time supporter of both independent outlets. Current grant funding comes as community newspapers shrink or close (most recently the 154-year-old News and Sentinel in Colebrook, NH), and as most radio stations no longer have newsrooms.

A 2024 University of Vermont study found that Vermont now has 75 percent fewer working journalists than two decades ago. New Hampshire’s Department of Employment Security reported a similar drop in newspaper jobs in the Granite State between 2001 and 2023.

VTDigger, founded in 2009, and IndepthNH.org both initially concentrated on statehouse news. Now, both offer daily newsfeeds, breaking statewide news, investigative/watchdog journalism, regional coverage and opinion — all free by email and on robust websites. They also share their stories for publication in other outlets.

West, who started her news career in the northern New Hampshire community of Littleton, said covering scores of hearings and delving into the failed Northern Pass Project to run power lines from Canada through northern New Hampshire helped build InDepthNH.org’s credibility in the region.

“These were not clickbait stories,” she said, “but they were really important” in explaining pros and cons of a project that prompted stiff opposition in the North Country.

“The people in the North Country are very dedicated and when they have an issue that they care about, they really show up, and I think that’s how they got to know us, and that’s how we got to know them,” West said.

Currently, InDepthNH.org is covering plans by a timberland owner to reduce the amount of timber cut from a large tract in the northern tip of New Hampshire.

The owner would allow trees to grow, capturing carbon to offset impact from industries that create carbon dioxide emissions. The owner would sell carbon credits to those industries.

Mary Lou Krambeer of Bethlehem, said the issue is an example of how InDepthNH.org covers North Country issues that have wider impact.

“It’s taking jobs away from northern New Hampshire. Carbon credit brokers don’t want to cut trees,” she said. “It’s really an important story, and it goes well beyond Coös County.”

Krambeer and other North Country residents attended a meeting organized by InDepthNH.org this fall in Lancaster, where many lamented “the dying of newspapers” and applauded West’s efforts.

“We appreciate getting some major stories of the North Country out into the public,” she said. “No, they’re not covering select board meetings, and they’re not doing local sports, nor should they, but they are picking up the larger stories up here.”

Goswami believes issues along the Canadian border will become a larger story, especially with potential changes in immigration policy. One border surveillance story was among VTDigger’s most read stories.

Covering major public emergencies also has become more common.

“As newspapers continue to retract, the coverage that Digger is providing becomes more important, and especially doing more daily, breaking news and public service news or meeting public information needs,” said Membership and Engagement Director Libbie Sparadeo.

Breaking news coverage was crucial when devasting flooding hit northern Vermont twice last summer.

Most of the Lyndonville neighborhood where Rose Reynolds, her husband, Keith Upham, and two young children live was wiped out in July.  In the middle of the night, during the howling storm, Upham helped a neighbor to safety from a raging stream, where she had clung to trees and branches for 45 minutes. Reynolds was impressed and grateful that VTDigger’s reporter, Emma Cotton, told the story accurately and with compassion.

“Emma had a way of honoring our experience and being respectful and also telling the story in such a way to make it compelling without taking advantage of us or capitalizing off our trauma,” Reynolds said.

The reporting was a community service, she said, helping others learn of the damage and prompting many to help residents recover. More broadly, Reynolds said VTDigger shows the rest of Vermont that she and her Northeast Kingdom neighbors exist.

“Sometimes I think we feel ignored by Montpelier, and so to have our stories more available, to feel like we’re a full part of the state, that folks in power are going to see the stories, it’s just important,” she said.

Roughly half a million readers turn to VTDigger every month and 41,000 subscribe to free weekly and daily email newsletters. For 2024, the outlet reports more than 21 million pageviews from 5.2 million website readers.

InDepthNH.org, which is published by the New Hampshire Center for Public Interest Journalism, reports 250,000 pageviews from 125,000 readers in January 2025, with nearly 10,000 subscribers to two daily newsletters. In the year ending Jan. 31, there were 2.5 million pageviews from 1.2 million readers. The figures do not include those who read InDepthNH.org stories provided for free to numerous online and print publications.

InDepthNH.org is funded through local, regional and national grants, but reports most of its revenue comes from New Hampshire, and mostly in donations from readers and local philanthropists. It relies on a dedicated group of five main contract reporters, a handful of columnists and several interns to report the news.

At VTDigger, a project of the Vermont Journalism Trust, about two-thirds of funding comes from individual contributions, including major gifts and membership support. The remaining revenue is split evenly between advertising and grants. It has grown from a one-woman (founder Anne Galloway) volunteer operation to a staff of just under 30, with several interns.

Both organizations say their northern tier stories often are discovered and reported by their journalists who live in or have strong ties to the region.

“It’s essential to have people who are located there, who already know who to call in the community, who know where to go and are not just helicoptering in,” said Goswami.

And both say that as legacy outlets contract, they are determined to keep delivering news that people need to make informed decisions for their communities.

“We believe there is a news crisis in New Hampshire and we want to do whatever we can to help,” said West. “We want to supplement and help save local news.”