Home Part of States Newsroom
Commentary
Help the Nebraska Examiner mark its first anniversary

Share

Help the Nebraska Examiner mark its first anniversary

Jan 25, 2023 | 4:29 pm ET
By Cate Folsom
Share
Help the Nebraska Examiner mark its first anniversary
Description
One year in business for the Nebraska Examiner. From left are Aaron Sanderford, Paul Hammel, Cindy Gonzalez and Cate Folsom. (Aaron Sanderford/Nebraska Examiner)

The Nebraska Examiner is marking its first anniversary today, and I want to thank you all for your support over the past year. With your help, we’ve achieved some important milestones:

In our first year as a nonprofit news outlet, we published more than 1,700 stories – including nearly 1,200 just by our three full-time local reporters. 

Overall, Nebraska Examiner stories received more than 3.7 million pageviews during the last 12 months. Pageviews are only a fraction of our reach, however, because we share our high-quality content to community newspapers and news outlets at no cost. 

Our reporting helps to strengthen community news operations, allowing them to focus on other important news in their communities. Our stories were republished or mentioned by other news organizations over 5,000 times.

Small but mighty

We have developed nearly 12,000 followers on social media and almost 5,000 newsletter subscribers.

All this with a four-person team. 

I’m proud of my colleagues — reporters Paul Hammel, Cindy Gonzalez and Aaron Sanderford. In addition to that full-time staff, we have begun using a college intern to expand our staff. Jazari Kual served as our first intern last fall. This semester we’re joined by Zach Wendling. These talented students have been a welcome addition.

We are hoping to add another staff member this year, as well, depending on financial support from readers like you.

Community impact

The Nebraska Examiner is more than just a news source — it is one that has had an impact on our community. During our first year we were either the first media, or the only media, to report about topics such as these:

  • A citizen’s complaint about State Sen. Tom Brewer, who has been dogged for years about whether he lives in his legislative district. 
  • An alleged bank fraud case, reportedly among the largest in state history, involving a Lincoln businessman who was found dead in a parking garage.
  • Complaints by eight women of inappropriate conduct by a Republican gubernatorial candidate, Charles Herbster.
  • Mutual of Omaha’s plans to move onto the site of Omaha’s downtown library and how the company was eyeing additional property nearby.
  •  A multimillion-dollar development in a north downtown district anchored by the new, worldwide headquarters for Fortune 500 company Kiewit Corp.
  • A major shift in the leadership of the Nebraska Republican Party.
  • Nonpayment of a state contract to operate the state’s health information exchange and prescription drug monitoring programs, a story that led to payment of $11 million in overdue bills.
  • How Nebraska Furniture Mart was suffering from growing pains at its location in the middle of Omaha.
  • A record amount of fundraising in Nebraska elections.
  • Workforce shortages at the Nebraska Department of Transportation that left the state precariously short of snowplow drivers. The shortage left roads blocked with snow in northern Nebraska, triggering a precarious snowmobile delivery of needed medicine in blizzard conditions.
  • The pardon of a convicted sex offender by the Pardons Board, led by Gov. Pete Ricketts, that sparked outrage among some American Legion members. The conflict resulted in disciplinary action against some Legion members who gave an official show of support to the pardon.
  • The accidental destruction of a plot of virgin prairie in northwest Omaha, which prompted Google to donate $100,000 to help other prairie areas.

We hope you continue to find value in the Nebraska Examiner and that you feel we have earned your support. We’d appreciate any level of donation you care to give. If you aren’t a subscriber, give us a try here. It’s easy and it’s free. And if you already subscribe and like what you see, please pass the word.

Thank you all!