We’re in the midst of our member drive trying to expand coverage (we hit our goal of covering school board!) and build support for neighborhood news.
Why support our member drive? Help us hire contributors to expand our coverage.
While West St. Paul Reader is primarily a one-person shop, we bring in contributors to cover things we can’t.
Contributors make our coverage better.
They should get paid for that. We always try to fairly compensate our contributors, but that strains the budget. We need support from members to continue paying contributors and expand our efforts.
What They’ve Contributed
In 2023 alone, we hired contributors 15 times, including nine articles and six photo stories.
Articles: News coverage on community groups, new stores, a local author, and Halloween decorations, City Council coverage when our editor is out of town, restaurant reviews, and events including the spelling bee and wiffleball tournament.
Photos: The Kidarod outdoor adventure challenge, Marine Team open house, Bike Rodeo, Explore West St. Paul Days parade, West St. Paul Rider community bike ride, and the K9 walk.
We’re grateful for their contributions and proud of their work.
Thanks: Big shout out to writers Megan Noggle, Jacob Parkinson, and Stephanie Schempp, and to photographers Sam Amundson and Finley Gustafson.
Student Contributors
Did we mention they’re students? 14 of our 15 contributions come from high school and college students. We give them paid opportunities to explore their interests and gain experience. That’s invaluable.
We love doing it, because that’s how we got our start. Local opportunities in high school and college gave us the experience to launch our career. Giving the same opportunity to the next generation fills us with pride.
Hire More Contributors
We’d love to hire more students. While it is a great opportunity, an aspiring writer needs more experience than one or two stories a year. We’d love to do more, but we need support to grow our budget for contributors
Help us give students opportunities by becoming a member and supporting our work.
