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  "description": "To cover schools, growth, and local government with consistency, Southpoint Access needs more than subscriptions and sponsors - we need community philanthropy to bridge the early-years gap.",
  "path": "/sustainability-math-what-it-takes-to-fund-south-durham-neighborhood-news/",
  "publishedAt": "2026-02-27T00:59:25.000Z",
  "site": "https://soduwelikelocal.news",
  "tags": [
    "step up to invest in this resource",
    "my recent article",
    "Durham Public Schools",
    "restaurant health inspection reports",
    "obituaries",
    "crime reports",
    "shopping basket comparisons",
    "daily fuel tracker",
    "Dris Eats the Streets",
    "Nerdspresso Phase II",
    "Family Resource Guide",
    "UDO 101",
    "Office Hours livestreams",
    "free events calendar",
    "Games",
    "horoscopes",
    "Southpoint Access Media KitGet the lowdown on SoDu’s independent, locally owned and operated neighborhood news resource.Southpoint AccessSouthpoint Access",
    "wesplattsouthpointaccess"
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  "textContent": "So, here’s the vision: Eventually, _Southpoint Access_ should be sustainable and should be capable of supporting:\n\n  * Neighborhood journalists to cover schools, politics, and local development.\n  * Someone to manage subscription sales and sponsorships.\n  * A finance/HR manager.\n  * A social media/marketing manager.\n  * A videographer/editor.\n  * And me.\n\n\n\nI’m really not very interested in boosting overhead expenses by investing in an office lease. So, my pie-in-the-sky annual budget estimate suggests that I’d want to get about $600,000 a year (minimum) to provide living wages, deliver daily community news, and develop marketing plans.\n\nWe’re really nowhere near that yet.\n\nThe lowest-tier annual subscription for _Southpoint Access_ is $50. We’ve got about 125,000 people in the zipcodes that I’ve focused on for this project. Doing my napkin math, we’d need 12,000 subscribers. Right now, we’re past 400, but not all of them pay. (I’m grateful for each and every reader, and I’m honored to help keep neighbors informed, but I confess a special affection for readers who step up to invest in this resource.)\n\nSo how does _Southpoint Access_ reach sustainability? How do we get to the point where this is the foundation for a community news legacy, dedicated to informing readers in and around South Durham, and earning the support of the people who call this area home?\n\nUsing just the basic $500 per year sponsorships from local businesses: We’d need 1,200 (this seems highly unlikely to me). Let’s assume we get all our help from the $2,500 per year top-level sponsors. We’d need 240. (We don't even have one yet! But we do have five mid-level sponsors - thanks, as always, to Holly Hayes, Constantinou & Burkert, Jill E. Burton, Showmars, and Hall-Wynne Funeral Service & Crematory!)\n\nHonestly, I think it’s more likely we could reach 12,000 subscribers before _Southpoint Access_ lands that many sponsors. But would all of them pay to support the work? If you haven’t seen my recent article, a Pew Research study determined that 16% of Americans paid for local news, but only 8% think we’ve got a responsibility to pay for it.\n\n_Southpoint Access_ can be sustained to an extent with a mix of subscriptions and sponsorships, but to build the kind of consistent, high-impact neighborhood journalism South Durham deserves - deep schools coverage, watchdog reporting on planning and growth, and strong video storytelling - we’ll also need philanthropic support to bridge the gap in the early years.\n\n## Sign up for Southpoint Access\n\nIndependent news and updates for South Durham, covering local development, government, schools, and community life.\n\nSubscribe\n\nEmail sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup.\n\nNo spam. Unsubscribe anytime.\n\nWhat are people getting for their money?\n\n  * Regular coverage of Durham Public Schools (have you seen my interviews with most of the Board of Education candidates on the ballot March 3?), new developments in the area, and local businesses.\n  * Monthly restaurant health inspection reports.\n  * The weekly obituaries, crime reports, and shopping basket comparisons.\n  * The daily fuel tracker.\n  * Videos: Idrissa A. Smith's Dris Eats the Streets and Nerdspresso Phase II, featuring Jeff Stanford and yours truly nerding out about sci-fi, movies, and TV.\n  * SoDu Compass guides, including the Family Resource Guide and UDO 101.\n  * My Office Hours livestreams.\n  * Our free events calendar!\n  * Games and horoscopes.\n\n\n\nNow ask yourself: are subscribers getting their money's worth? Isn't this work deserving of support? I certainly think so!\n\nSouthpoint Access Media KitGet the lowdown on SoDu’s independent, locally owned and operated neighborhood news resource.Southpoint AccessSouthpoint Access\n\nIf you know individuals, family foundations, donor-advised funds, or local businesses with a charitable giving arm that care about civic health, youth, transparency, and community connection, I’d appreciate an introduction.\n\nI’m Wes Platt, your neighborhood news guy, and I’m looking for partners who want to help make independent, community-first journalism a lasting public good in South Durham.\n\nThanks for reading!\n\nWes\n\n**Email:** wes.platt@southpointaccess.news\n**Cell:**(407) 616-1346\n**Instagram:** wesplattsouthpointaccess\n**Signal:** wesplatt.31",
  "title": "Sustainability Math: What It Takes to Fund South Durham Neighborhood News",
  "updatedAt": "2026-02-27T00:59:26.847Z"
}