Crosscut lasted almost 20 years earlier than its sudden finish by the choice of its proprietor, Cascade PBS. Some have advised that the lack of the native journalism employees is a nail within the coffin for not-for-profit native information. I disagree. The mannequin labored efficiently right here with Crosscut, and it’s working in different cities.
When Crosscut was impartial, it survived two near-death monetary crises due to a plucky band of donors, volunteers and journalists motivated by the assumption that high-quality, native journalism would make our group a greater place. Crosscut pioneered in-depth protection on points like homelessness, saved The Seattle Instances on its toes and helped practice many profitable journalists.
However no plucky band might come to its rescue a 3rd time, as Cascade PBS administration determined to dissolve the ”lengthy kind” information employees — Crosscut — with out advance discover to the general public and even many of the board.
I had a front-row seat to the lengthy rise and sudden loss of life of Crosscut, serving as certainly one of its board members from 2009 till it was acquired by KCTS in 2015. I joined the Cascade Public Media board of directors last year.
We must always mourn Crosscut’s demise. Freedom of the press solely issues if there’s a press left to be free. Journalism holds these in energy accountable and helps nurture the values of citizenship important to democracy.
We must always subsequent honor Crosscut’s legacy. Let its loss be a name for the subsequent technology of plucky residents to copy in Seattle the success different areas have present in supporting not-for-profit native journalism.
Once I was requested to affix the Crosscut board in 2009, it confronted near-death expertise No. 1. Crosscut had been based two years earlier as a for-profit information website by David Brewster, who based after which offered the profitable Seattle Weekly. Additionally driving the imaginative and prescient was Tom Alberg, certainly one of our group’s nice civic leaders and a founding board member of Amazon. Their for-profit mannequin didn’t work, so Crosscut turned a community-sponsored information website.
Close to-death expertise No. 2 got here in 2012, when massive grants from the Gates and Knight foundations expired. These grants represented about two-thirds of Crosscut’s price range. However inside a few yr, Crosscut had largely changed these grants with funding from numerous sources, together with greater than 1,200 particular person group members.
Crosscut thrived as a supply of impartial, high quality native journalism. Our editorial staff invited native specialists to debate points with the board, just like the sudden rise in homelessness in 2013-14. These group discussions helped Crosscut punch above its monetary weight by specializing in protection that would have an effect on the group.
In its final yr as an impartial information group, 2015, Crosscut gained 10 of the 22 Northwest Excellence Awards from the Society of Skilled Journalists for newsrooms its measurement, together with the classes of crime and justice; authorities and politics; well being reporting; and investigative reporting.
Unbiased Crosscut was succeeding however lacked the monetary capital to develop, and native PBS affiliate KCTS wished to enrich nationwide programming like “Masterpiece,” “Nova” and the “PBS NewsHour.” The 2 not-for-profits merged in late 2015. KCTS turned longtime journalist Knute Berger — together with his lumberjack shirts and billowing hair — right into a tv star with a present on Northwest historical past and tradition.
Cascade PBS administration mentioned final week that it minimize almost all the “lengthy kind” journalism staff — Crosscut — in response to federal cuts to public media funding. I understand how laborious the Cascade PBS staff has labored to deal with the lack of federal funding and the way troublesome these choices have been. The excellent news is that Cascade PBS was receiving unprecedented public help. However there was a lot uncertainty about whether or not this help would proceed. Crosscut was minimize due to this uncertainty, not as a result of it was failing.
In the meantime, profitable nonprofit information has sprung up across the nation, competing with for-profit newsrooms. Statewide websites like The Texas Tribune and Bridge Michigan, and native websites like The Baltimore Banner and Block Club Chicago, are being joined by The Spokesman-Review and The Salt Lake Tribune, for-profit papers-turned-nonprofits.
Cascade PBS’ resolution to finish Crosscut’s 20 years of success shouldn’t be the top of not-for-profit information in Seattle or wherever else. We will flip that call into an inspiration; it is a chance to get one other plucky band collectively to help high quality journalism in our group.
