Anyone who has driven south of downtown Sarasota over this past year has seen a large and well-lit “smh 100” sign.
It is not a nod to the text abbreviation “shaking my head.”
It is a celebration of the 100 years since the founding of Sarasota Memorial, our community hospital.
Like our local hospital, the Sarasota Herald-Tribune was also founded and first published in 1925.
Unlike our local hospital – which seems to sprout new, impressive facilities weekly as it serves an ever-growing population – our daily local newspaper, like most other print publications over the past 20 years, continues to retrench and face a seemingly never-ending existential crisis.
And, no, there isn’t an “sht 100” sign outside of the Herald-Tribune’s downtown office.
In fact., the H-T’s location doesn’t have any visible or prominent signage at all.
But what was true for the health of our community in founding both Sarasota Memorial and the Herald-Tribune in 1925 is just as applicable and urgent today for the future of this region.
A call to action
This column is a call for our community, out of enlightened self-interest, to participate in celebrating 100 years of local journalism.
But it is also a call to help us triage the wounded business model to create a local, relevant, community-driven multimedia product that pierces the noise and clutter of abundant misinformation –and better empowers all of us to be informed, free and self-governing.
As a third-generation ManaSota resident (and father of two children born at Sarasota Memorial), I was humbled this past January to be invited to serve on the Herald-Tribune’s first Citizen Advisory Committee
The committee has six community members – and while it reflects a wide range of political views, from Day One there has been unanimous agreement among the members on one overriding theme.
We all agree that if our region is to ever hope to address the significant challenges we face when it comes to traffic, growth management, local corruption, health care, education, housing insecurity and polarization – among other issues – then we must have objective media outlets with trusted reporting that can inform large percentages of our residents.
These objective media outlets must also:
The bad news is that over the past two decades most daily newspapers, including the Herald Tribune, have lost significant amounts of revenue and staffing.
But the good news is that the ManaSota region is home to more than 20,000 millionaires who endow this region with resources that most similar-sized communities can only dream about.
For evidence of this powerful fact, just look at the Barancik Foundation.
With $578 million in assets, the Barancik Foundation has invested more than $2 million in Suncoast Searchlight, a nonprofit investigative journalism service focused on Sarasota, Manatee and DeSoto counties.
With support from the Citizen Advisory Committee and approval from Gannett, the Herald-Tribune began publishing Searchlight stories this summer.
This partnership has strengthened local journalism in three ways:
A promising start, but more to do
Our Citizen Advisory Committee sees this partnership as only the beginning.
It is just one example of many partnerships that must be developed in the coming months and years to ensure our community continues to have a relevant media organization that is a go-to source for trustworthy, timely and important local information.
To that end, we are working with the Herald-Tribune to build upon the work of Brown University’s Civic Information Index.
We are seeking to create a community dashboard of metrics to make sure that a vibrant Herald Tribune is present to support civic integrity and public engagement that will lead to a better place to live and raise our families.
Everyone who reads and subscribes to the Herald-Tribune is, in a sense, part of this advisory effort.
We invite your ideas on how to bring this vision to life.
We want your examples of how other communities are supporting their newspapers through philanthropy or creative partnerships.
And we welcome your views on the performance indicators you want to see reflected on the Herald-Tribune community dashboard.
Please send your thoughts, suggestions, complaints and transformational ideas directly to Herald-Tribune Opinion Editor Roger Brown at roger.brown@heraldtribune.com.
Our children and grandchildren thank you.
Kelly Kirschner is a former Sarasota city commissioner and mayor. He is a member of the Sarasota Herald-Tribune’s Citizen Advisory Committee and this column is published with the full support of the entire committee, which also includes Dr. Washington Hill, Liat Alon, Glenna Blomquist, Bob Bolier and Ron Gottlieb.
This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: The Herald-Tribune is a valued asset. Let’s play our part to keep it strong. | Opinion
Reporting by Kelly Kirschner Guest columnist / Sarasota Herald-Tribune
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