Note from Doni: I wrestled about whether to publish this letter to the editor, because it’s so obviously self-serving. But I consulted with another long-time supporter of A News Cafe.com, who reminded me that A News Café.com is a nearly seven-year-old community service. And it’s free to readers, supported in part by advertisers, but also helped along by loyal readers, like this anonymous donor, Eastern Shasta County, who’s been with us from literally the site’s first day. True enough.
Without further explanation, I give you Eastern Shasta County’s letter.Â
Blue skies, nothing but blue skies.
Just as I was writing my annual check to A News Café.com, a comment by “Really” prompted Doni to reply that she used a news release about the Paskenta Tribe because she doesn’t have the staff and resources to cover as many hard news stories as she’d like.
As with NPR and PBS, having this site available requires money. Doni doesn’t hold semi-annual pledge drives; the closest she comes is having a “Donate” button positioned discretely on some of the pages.
Those of us who depend on A News Café.com  for local news and commentary must realize that, even though there isn’t a print version of the pieces, an online site costs money to produce. If you’ve ever had an e-mail from Doni, the bottom of the page states the number of readers and “hits” for the site: as many as 60,000 unique visitors and 2.2 million pageviews a month.
If every one of those 60,000 visitors, and just a few of the 2.2 million pageviewers kicked in as little as $20 a year, Doni could hire more staff to cover hard news and local business news, and not have to depend entirely on contributors, opinion writers, and unpaid friends for articles and advertisers for funding.
I stopped my subscription to the local newspaper after management saw fit to fire her, but I see that the print price is $12.99/month ($155.88/year) and the e-edition is $4.99/month ($59.88/year). With those figures in mind, $20/year is a bargain and would go a very long way to keeping this local treasure on our computer screens.
This piece was not solicited by Doni or any of the  staff at A News Café.com.
I’m simply aware of the necessity for funds to keep the site afloat.
As you are writing your annual checks to JeffNet, KCHO, KIXE, and the Cascade Theatre, you would be doing yourself and A News Café fans a huge favor by being a donor to A News Café as well.
My check is in the mail (and it exceeds $20). Â Is yours?
EasternCounty lives in Eastern Shasta County, and has been a loyal reader and contributor of A News Café.com since its inception in 2007.
