Dear readers: The Sun News needs your help

Dear readers:

A few weeks ago, I wrote to all of you about our physical move from our longtime building on Frontage Road to our new office space at The Coastal Carolina National Bank Center on 38th Avenue North.

We spent one day in our new office before our team started quarantining and practicing social distancing while still working to deliver crucial news to our community every day. Our front office has been closed to the public since that day.

Life has changed dramatically in less than a month. Schools, restaurants, beach access, and, on Wednesday, all nonessential businesses have closed. We don’t know when they’ll be allowed to reopen.

As businesses shut down, revenue to local newspapers has dramatically decreased, which is putting media organizations across the country in a dire situation, with some shutting down or cutting several days of circulation. Other media organizations are having to lay off and/or furlough its employees. Some are taking major pay cuts.

The Sun News is not immune to these economic realities.

I can’t be more blunt: we need our community’s support.

Over the past month, we’ve made 100 percent of our coronavirus coverage free to the public. We removed our paywall from those stories because we believe they’re absolutely crucial to the health and well-being of our community.

Believe me when I say our journalists feel they have a fundamental responsibility to help you make smart decisions so you and your family are safe and healthy. We will continue to make those stories — focused on breaking news, health updates, government decisions that impact your life — free to all readers.

However, we will begin putting some of our stories behind our normal paywall, which gives readers a few free stories every month, then prompts you to subscribe. For those stories and other coverage, we’re providing a deep discount of 99 cents for the first two months because we are certainly aware of the economic struggles for so many in our community.

I know I said it a few weeks ago, but it rings more true today than even then: I cannot imagine going through the coronavirus pandemic without local news. The Department of Health and Environmental Control refuses to give complete information. Your local newspaper is pushing hard for this data every day. Your county council has held TWO private “emergency meetings.” We’re calling them out on that disturbing behavior.

Our team here is working around the clock to keep you informed. We’re trying to be smart about our own social distancing while reporting on the real issues in this community. Please support them through a digital subscription.

If you are already a subscriber, there’s another way that you can help. Thanks to a matching grant from Report for America, we are adding a new staff member who will be focused on affordability and homelessness in our area, which will likely be deeply impacted by the coronavirus.

But we need reader support to raise the matching funds to make this work possible. Individuals, organizations and businesses can make a tax-deductible donation directly to Report for America using the form at https://bit.ly/3bGoac6. All of the money will go directly to paying the salary of this reporter.

While I know we’re one of many businesses hurting right now in our community, I’m hopeful readers have seen a real value in what we do every day to keep the Grand Strand informed. I also understand some won’t be able to subscribe but still need access to crucial, possibly life-saving information every day, and that’s why those stories will remain free.

Thank you for your support, and please stay safe and healthy.

— Stephanie Pedersen is the general manager and executive editor at The Sun News.

This story was originally published April 1, 2020 at 3:25 PM.