A study that came out earlier this month caught my eye — and not in a good way.
The collaboration between Rebuild Local News and Muckrack found that the number of working local journalists in the U.S. has plummeted. Back in 2002, there were about 40 local journalists for every 100,000 residents. Today, the figure is just 8.2. That’s a decrease of roughly 75%(!)
As the internet disrupted the standard newspaper business model, hundreds and hundreds of communities saw their local news outlets disappear, turning them into “news deserts” — places where there’s no reliable, independent source for coverage of local government, schools and business.
While Johnson County has avoided that fate, we still have far fewer journalists working here than we need to fully cover the community.
Here at the Post, we’ve made it our mission to build a newsroom that can produce consistent, trustworthy coverage of this big, dynamic community for decades to come.
And having more real live human beings out talking to the people who live here is the cornerstone of that mission.
We’re currently hiring for a new full-time reporter to cover Olathe. We plan to hire another new reporter in 2026 to cover De Soto, Gardner Edgerton and Spring Hill. And we hope to hire more and more reporters after that.
Support from subscribers accounts for about 60% of our annual revenue — meaning literally every dollar we take in from subscriptions funds our newsroom’s work.
We currently have 8,000 paying subscribers. We need to get to 10,000 to fund the newsroom Johnson County deserves.
If you don’t subscribe yet but think it’s important to Johnson County to have a dedicated news source that residents will be able to turn to for years and years, we’re asking YOU to join our ranks today.
Our most recent survey found that nine in 10 subscribers are satisfied with their subscriptions, 93% say we’re trustworthy and 96% say they’re getting their money’s worth.
Give it a try for yourself: Click this link you’ll get 50% off your first year! With an annual plan it factors out to less than $1 per week!
(Discount good for first-time subscribers only. We think you’ll love what we offer, but if you decide it’s not for you, you can cancel at anytime.)
Thank you for your support of truly local news in Johnson County!
