I was taught as a newspaper reporter to never bury the lede. So, here’s what you need to know first: the Hendersonian is published under the umbrella of the certified nonprofit West Kentucky Public Service Journalism Inc.
And starting Nov. 1 and continuing through Dec. 31, we will hold our first ever fundraising drive as part of national organization the Institute of Nonprofit News’ NewsMatch program.
We’ve made so much progress since the beginnings of the Hendersonian. But the truth is we have so much farther we need to go.
And we need your help. This is the community’s newspaper now.
Let me tell you the story how we got here.
For many years before, I’d always had the idea to start a magazine. I love to read, and I love to write. But for many years, I was always doing something else without any time to devote to figuring out how to start a publication.
In February 2023—seeing the need in the community—I decided to finally to give it a shot. And so, for months I planned, found a company that still prints newspapers in Todd County, set up an LLC, built a website, met with local businesses (many of them cold calls) to find some advertising, started conducting interviews for articles, learned inDesign to lay out the paper (though not very well) and more. The first issue was published in May 2023.
With that first edition—a mere 16 pages compared to this month’s 40-pager—the Hendersonian was born. Many people liked it and complimented the effort, but more than that, they liked that someone was reporting about Henderson and there were Henderson stories again.
Fast forward several months and the paper was no longer just a monthly printed edition, but I’d also implemented twice-weekly e-newsletters with more timely news. With subscriptions, print advertising and the occasional online advertising, it was just enough for a one-person operation to scrape by, pay bills and raise a family. But barely. With all the different ways a business can get the word out with social media posts that are free or close to free, securing advertising in my product was not easy. Expanding the operation and hiring reporters seemed like a pipedream.
But as I progressed with the paper, I learned more about a new business model available to newspapers. With a nonprofit model, we can still secure money from advertising and subscriptions because all of it goes to fund the mission. And we can add donation and grant revenue streams.
It took me a while, several more months, but finally I decided to go through the paperwork to form a nonprofit, the aforementioned West Kentucky Public Service Journalism Inc. Tin the summer of 2025, with donations and grants in the bank, the operations were switched fully over to the nonprofit.
What does that mean?
It means that this paper is now grounded in the community. It can’t be bought. So, if there were ever interest from someone to buy it, they couldn’t.
The Hendersonian is Henderson’s.
And we want to make it better. Part of that is raising the funding this year and every year after to hire more reporters to gather so much more of the news around town and county that we just can’t get to now. We’ll also continue to strive to reach the level of professionalism that Henderson journalism had for decades with The Gleaner. And as a nonprofit news site, we will use our pedestal to get the word out for other nonprofits in Henderson. (Check out an article by Father Bradley Shelter for Women and Children
Executive Director Kendall Dean on page 31, the “Nonprofit Henderson” page of this issue.
Finally, I want to share with you our mission statement:
“Published by the nonprofit company West Kentucky Public Service Journalism Inc., The Hendersonian is an independent, community news organization that serves Henderson County with trusted, in-depth, fair, and accurate journalism. We educate and empower residents through our dedication to fact-based journalism.”
Perhaps the most important phrase in the mission is “educate and empower.” That phrasing, in my mind, gives action to the whole point of the Hendersonian.
With a strong education, a person can go out and do great things. Similarly, with fair, accurate, in-depth and fact-based journalism, citizens in Henderson County can make better decisions about local government, nonprofits, political candidates and so much more. Truth matters. Without it, everything that comes after rings hollow.
And that, in essence, is why the Hendersonian is here and why it is now operating under the umbrella of a nonprofit—so that the Henderson community can improve. We know that broader and better journalism can be a part of improving Henderson. We hope you agree.
We will push out more information about our fundraising program starting on Nov. 1. Please keep your eyes peeled. Thanks.
