The importance of a local newspaper was no more evident than in the past few weeks when we had to suspend an issue of Morgan Hill Life while we worked through the process of dealing with the death of publisher Marty Cheek.

We got numerous calls and emails urging us to continue publishing Morgan Hill Life and that is what we plan to do.

Local news is our most trusted source for information about the world around us. It provides a shared understanding of what’s happening in our city halls, schools, and businesses.

It connects us to our community and our neighbors. It uplifts voices that would otherwise go unheard. It promotes the positive aspects of our community and demands accountability of community, business, and governmental bodies. It forces decision-making agencies to operate within the public’s view.

Local news empowers us with the knowledge to make informed decisions about issues critical to our daily lives.

Local news outlets can stimulate local economies.

However, local news outlets are disappearing at an alarming rate:

  • In 2023, two and a half local publications disappeared each week.
  • More than half of U.S. counties have little to no access to a local news source.
  • 70 million people in the U.S. live in a community without a newspaper or at risk of losing theirs.

More than half of those remaining newspapers are owned by institutions whose cost-cutting strategies have stripped newsrooms of the resources necessary to produce consistent, original reporting on basic information. People who live in communities that still have a local newspaper may effectively be living in news deserts.

In the absence of trusted news sources, we see targeted disinformation campaigns, including efforts to spread misinformation through social networks and websites masquerading as news brands.

Rest assured, we will continue to publish but it is important we have the backing of the community, especially the business community. We are a free newspaper and rely on our advertisers to support our community newspaper.

We have some ideas moving forward that will make Morgan Hill Life and Gilroy Life even better and more dynamic.

Thank you for all your support during the past 12 years.