by Melanie Jongsma, Publisher
LANSING, Ill. (February 12, 2021) – “We enjoyed having the reporter at practice,” read a 2018 email from a skater with the Illiana Derby Dames. “And the article was written so well! We loved it!”
The Illiana Derby Dames are a tough-looking tribe of jammers and blockers with names like Eve Iscerate, Scare N Dippity, and Karma Kazi. So it was fun to receive such a sweet email from them. Josh Bootsma wrote the article in his early days as a Lansing Journal reporter, and he loved having the opportunity to learn about a unique local sport and share what he learned with the broader community.
The Derby Dames loved having a reporter interested enough to come to their practice and ask questions. Josh loved learning about roller derby. Readers loved finding out that these crazy lady skaters also choose a local charity to support through ticket sales.
I love knowing that my small town is home to such colorful characters and such delightful big-heartedness.
I know you love it too.
Love notes
It’s not just the fun, unique, feature stories our writers share with you. You also love the more routine information about life around Lansing—Board meeting agendas, COVID numbers, micro-pantry locations, and other daily local news. Each week I receive notes like these:
“I love getting the daily email in my inbox and hope to keep reading it for as long as I can. Keep up the great work!”
“We’re enjoying the paper very much and the writing is excellent. Thank you!”
“I always look forward to reading my new Lansing Journal but also love reading the articles online!”
“I LOVE our new newspaper!!! And today’s email articles were no exception!!!!”
“I love the Lansing Journal :)”
We love receiving these little love notes from you. Thank you.
Words and more
The notes are important because they affirm the work we are doing. But there are costs involved with this work.
Our reporters put their hearts into the stories they report, but they also need to get paid. People from Lansing and across the country eagerly read our articles for free, but it costs money to host a website and send a daily email. (Not to mention the print issue we are planning for next month.)
So will you give a gift to support the community newspaper you love?
Show us a little love each month (monthly support helps us budget the year of news publishing):
Or make a special Valentine’s gift (one-time gifts help fill the gap when advertising revenue is lean):
Prefer to write a check?
We appreciate that too! Here’s the info:
The Lansing Journal
PO Box 742
Lansing IL 60438
Thank you for supporting the work we put our hearts into. Your investment helps make sure The Lansing Journal continues to be a newspaper you love reading every day.
