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Mr. Stusser,

I think that everyone agrees that The Jolt fills an essential need in Thurston County. We pay something each year to support the mission of The Jolt because you provide the news source upon which we depend. My wife and I have also subscribed to the "newspaper of record" since we moved here in 2017 from Portland. We recently allowed that subscription to expire due to many of the reasons that you point out in your editorial statement. Noteworthy is that the McClatchy Company is now owned by a hedge fund in New Jersey. I don't think that they are too concerned about the news in the Capital City here. We also subscribe to a national news source and pay about the same annual rate for that paper in digital form as the Olympian wants for theirs. The average daily readership for all McClatchy papers is about 55,000 per paper. That would be less than 1/3 of the adults in our county, if the averages held. You are doing better than maybe you think. We certainly want this endeavor to grow and thrive but be proud of your timing and expertise in the middle of the pandemic, no less. You ROCK!

My personal thoughts on the the effort to grow the readership are multifaceted. One resource that may still be untapped is the high school and college student body. Lots of folks there seeking to know more all the time. It also occurs to me that "Next Door" is a place to spread the word that there is actually a news source operating in Thurston County again. Chamber of Commerce, LWV, TCM and any other place where folks look for the latest news. And really, some of the advertisers that are willing to buy ad space to support local balanced news could surprise us all and step up.

Long story short, thank you for all that you are doing for our citizenry. We will win this contest.

Tony W

Tumwater WA