The Roseville Reader turns two
A letter from the editor
Dear Readers,
Happy second birthday to the Roseville Reader!
At this time last year, I was marveling at how far we'd come as a tiny news outlet. I started the Roseville Reader on Substack to cover the 2024 election at the local level and kept it going as more and more readers found the publication and began paying for subscriptions. By the end of year one, the Roseville Reader moved off Substack to an open source, nonprofit platform called Ghost and grew to 1,000 total subscribers.
Now as the Reader turns two, we've almost doubled that—reaching 1,950 total subscribers. This is almost completely organic growth through community engagement and readers sharing our articles and discovering the Reader when they're wondering something about what's happening in Roseville.
"Roseville Reader is our Good Neighbor right in our own backyard."—Rita Moe, Roseville Reader subscriber
Celebrating milestones
Let's look back at some of our achievements and milestones of the past 12 months:
- Unearthed the true history behind the campfire stories and myths of gangsters and bootleggers on Lake Owasso
- Reported on the community's response to Operation Metro Surge at the local level
- Grew our coverage of Roseville Area Schools past previews of school board meetings to more frequent feature articles about things happening in the district, like this story about the Parkview Inclusive Playground.
- Kept an eye on potential redevelopment at HarMar Mall
- Followed the Aldine right-of-way controversy and other city council decisions
- Kept our finger on the pulse of new businesses and development, including what's (not) happening at HarMar and new area businesses like Saint Barks.
- Started the weekly Local Matters newsletter to kick off each week with news briefs and information about how to stay civically engaged
- We gained several regular freelance writers and developed collaborations with other local creators, such as You Me Food Review and the Info Booth Ladies—all Roseville residents! I don't know how we'd be where we are without this team of writers.
- Launched the Local Gem Awards to celebrate our community
- The Roseville Reader marched in the Rosefest parade with almost twenty people comprised of writers, supporters, family, and friends
- The Tiny News Collective became our fiscal sponsor, to accept tax-deductible donations to support the Roseville Reader
Naomi Krueger
"In an era dominated by national news, people often have to rely on the social media rumor mill to get information about their own city. Roseville Reader closes this gap by reporting on every city council and school board meeting, plus bringing you updates on local businesses and community life. Local government is supposed to be the closest, most responsive layer to individual citizens, but that can only be a reality with quality local news outlets like this one."—Eric Topel, Roseville Reader subscriber
Impact
I know the Roseville Reader is making a difference because of how highly engaged our audience is. Here are some of those metrics:
