by David Mendez

An informed community is a stronger community. And that starts with strong local news.

As learn more about what’s happening around us, we get smarter. We get to know each other better. Sure, we debate and we argue, but we think more. We ask more questions of ourselves, and of the people we elect. And we stop being afraid of one another.

That’s what I believe, deep in my blood, in my bones, in my marrow. The more we know about who we are, where we live and who lives around us, the better we all get. And that’s why I do this thing you’re reading right now.

So I’m proud to be participating in Local News Day this year. More than 1,300 newsrooms are participating to help folks learn more about their local news outlets and the journalists that staff them.

I’m going to be at Drumlin (522 NE 165th Street) from 9:30 a.m. to noon on Thursday, April 9 — the day you see this, ideally. I’m going to be there to hang out, to drink coffee, to trade story ideas and to chat about whatever folks are interested in chatting about. Because I want you to know who I am, and I want to know who you are and what you care about.

Trust in media, and in journalism, is at an all-time low. Only 28% of people trust mass media to report the news fully, accurately and fairly. Part of the problem there is that local news is shrinking (Washington has lost 31% of its newspapers statewide since 2005), leaving only national and larger regional outlets to pick up the slack. But they’re dwindling too, and their resources are drying up.

Shoreline hasn’t had a full-time local newspaper since 2009, when the Shoreline/Lake Forest Park Enterprise folded. Since then, a few outlets — Shoreline Area News chief among them — have sought to pick up the slack. Our other friends around town and nearby are working hard too, like Oliver Moffat at The Interurban Canopy, and Teresa Wipple and her team at My Edmonds News and the My Neighborhood News Group.

My job, as I see it, is to make sure you know what’s happening around you. For me, that starts with local government, where I focus most of my energy. I’m working to make sure that folks can find out what’s going on in city hall, even if they can’t make it there themselves. That reporting builds conversations. Those conversations build community.

And while government is at the center of what I do, I’m working on stories about other pillars in our community — businesses, parks, schools. People trying to make things better for everyone. Places and events that we all can enjoy.

I do this because I care about where I live. I’m curious about the people and places I see around town. And I’ve got a feeling that other people in this city are curious too.

So, come see me at Drumlin on Thursday. Let’s talk about what you love in Shoreline, what’s bothering you and what you want to learn more about.

Take care,
David Mendez