One of the things I love most about The Beacon is that we’re always trying to get better. We look at what other nonprofit news organizations are doing, we talk with colleagues across the country and we borrow good ideas when we think they’ll make The Beacon stronger for our readers.

Over the next few weeks, you’ll notice one of those ideas.

After you’ve read a story or two, you may be asked to enter your email address before continuing. If you’re already subscribed to one of our newsletters, you’ll simply enter that email address to unlock the story. If you’re new to The Beacon, we’ll invite you to sign up. It’s free.

I want to be clear about one thing: this isn’t a paywall. Our journalism will remain free.

So why are we doing it?

Because we want to know our readers better.

The Beacon exists to serve our communities. The better we understand who is reading our journalism, the better decisions we can make about what we cover, the newsletters we send, the products we build and the ways we connect with you. We don’t want to know more about our readers for marketing reasons. We want to know our readers so we can build a better Beacon.

Our COO, Hilary Becker, stays connected with and studies what other nonprofit newsrooms are doing and constantly thinks about what makes sense for The Beacon. This is one of several ideas we’re excited to test. Like everything we do, we’ll pay attention to the data, listen to what readers tell us and make changes if we need to.

The Beacon has always been built alongside its community. This is another step in helping us understand the people we serve and making sure we’re building a newsroom that continues to earn your trust every day.

Thanks for reading, and thanks for being part of The Beacon.

Stephanie Campbell
Chief Executive Officer

Hilary Becker
Chief Operating Officer