Extra Extra, Read All About It: Two New Options Join Local News Coverage

Bellingham City Club’s free online November 17 program features two new news organizations that have entered the Bellingham/Whatcom County market with a shared intent of informing the public and adding to the civic discourse: Salish Current and Cascadia Daily News. The hour and a half long presentation begins at 12:10 p.m. and will be “interview-style”. We’ll explore questions about the news landscape in Whatcom County, the stories that need to be told, and the ways that the news media enhance our community’s understanding of important issues.

Register in advance at https://bhamcityclub.wildapricot.org/event-4539510/registration. Registration closes at midnight, Monday, November 15. On the following Tuesday, registrants will receive an email with instructions on how to join the meeting.

The two news entities have entirely different business models. Salish Current is a news nonprofit supported by foundations and individual donors and Cascadia Daily News will be subscription-based with advertising. They both are committed to independent local journalism.

Amy Nelson is the publisher and digital editor of Salish Current and a member of the Salish Current Board of Directors. A strong proponent of fact-based reporting, Ms. Nelson has been a photographer, writer, and editor for community newspapers around the Northwest, including the Kitsap County Herald.

Ron Judd is the executive editor of Cascadia Daily News, an online and print newspaper that will begin publication in January 2022. Mr. Judd was a longtime staff reporter and columnist for The Seattle Times, He wrote for the Sunday magazine, covered news and sports, particularly the Olympics, and conducted investigative journalism. He also taught journalism courses at Western Washington University for 16 years.

Bellingham City Club’s mission is to inform, connect and engage our community to strengthen the civic health of our region. Bellingham City Club membership is open to all who support our mission and involves modest annual dues to pay speaker expenses and support operations. More information is available at www.bellinghamcityclub.org.

We acknowledge that Whatcom County is located on the unceded territory of the Coast Salish Peoples. They cared for the lands that included what we’d call the Puget Sound region, Vancouver Island and British Columbia since time immemorial. This gives us the great obligation and opportunity to learn how to care for our surrounding areas and all the natural and human resources we require to live. We express our deepest respect and gratitude for our indigenous neighbors, the Lummi Nation and Nooksack Tribe, for their enduring care and protection of our shared lands and waterways.