By Michael Durand

Some people thought I wasn’t in my right mind when I bought the Richmond Review and Sunset Beacon newspapers five years ago.

After all, newspapers are not known for financial windfalls and are perceived to be a vanishing product. I have never been one to live life “on the rails,” as I put it. I tend not to follow the well-worn path. I enjoy my freedom to make my own way in the world. How many people do you know who stood up in the middle of a college class, walked out and declared (internally) “I am graduating myself!”?

Owning and running two neighborhood newspapers is truly a labor of love. I love working with our writers, love editing and laying out the papers, love helping advertisers get the word out about their businesses, events and organizations and I especially love getting positive feedback from our readers. The papers are beloved and I am so gratified by that fact.

As always, I need to recognize and thank Paul Kozakiewicz who founded the papers more than 30 years ago and who still helps proofread the final copies before they go to press. His assistance is invaluable.

Keeping the papers alive feels like an uphill climb. Thanks to our advertisers, supporters and Patreon donors, we’re staying afloat. We are sincerely grateful for the support.

Reading newspapers versus getting your news online is a very different experience. It’s like reading a real book versus an electronic reader. Or like listeneing to vinyl records versus CDs. (In 2022, vinyl records officially surpassed CDs as the most popular physical recorded music format for the first time since 1987 (41.3 million units sold vs. 33.4 million units for CDs).

There is also a special spot in the hearts of community members for hyper-local stories. We love promoting local businesses and organizations. You won’t find much of that from the big digital outlets.

If you love the papers, please consider joining our Patreon group by visiting our website. If enough people continue to contribute, $5, $10, $25 or whatever you can afford, the papers will live on. Learn more by visiting our website, RichmondSunsetNews.com.

California Common Cause

Special recognition is in order for Maya Chupkov, Media and Democracy program manager at California Common Cause. Chupkov has spearheaded a campaign to get the City to support local news outlets.

According to information from the organization, “Common Cause is a nonpartisan, grassroots organization dedicated to upholding the core values of American democracy. We work to create open, honest, and accountable government that serves the public interest; promote equal rights, opportunity, and representation for all; and empower all people to make their voices heard in the political process.”

Chupkov was able to pull together a group of publishers and draft a resolution for the San Francisco Board of Supervisors to help share city advertising revenue with us little guys.

Read the Common Cause Press release on our website, RichmondSunsetNews.com (no hypen).

In Conclusion

I will finish up with a call for summer interns.

Every summer (and throughout the year, for some), we provide journalism opportunities for high school and college students interested in gaining some real-world experience. In fact, a couple of our best writers are high school juniors.

Before I graduated myself from college, I was studying English education. Another part of this job that I love is working with new writers and helping them learn about writing news and feature stories.

If you are interested in writing for your local paper – adults are welcome, too! – please send me an email: Editor@RichmondSunsetNews.com.

Finally, thank you to the team that works together to share local stories. Your efforts are greatly appreciated.

Michael Durand is the editor and publisher of the Richmond Review and Sunset Beacon newspapers and the RichmondSunsetNews.com website. He can be reached at Editor@RichmondSunsetNews.com or 415-706-6428.