Thank you 🙏

And if you’d like to hear more about why this matters, I spoke with Global News about the Readers’ Trust and the importance of sustaining local, independent media.
globalnews.ca/video/114593...

These are the kinds of stories that define Edify—ambitious, intelligent, human and fiercely local. They’re also what’s at stake. If readers get behind this work, we can continue on this trajectory; without them, there’s no guarantee Edify will see another five years. edifyedmonton.com/readers-trust/

We also cherish creative nonfiction. "Crescendo Ending" by Scott Messenger is a moving memoir about friendship, music and time — following two middle-aged bandmates finishing the album they’d always dreamed of before illness silences one of them.
edifyedmonton.com/people/profi...

Lifestyle journalism can be just as powerful when writers like Caroline Gault are behind it. Here she captures the vision behind Lauren Kyle McDavid’s plan to restore a historic building—written with such detail you can almost feel the oak herringbone underfoot.
edifyedmonton.com/people/profi...

Arts coverage is a cornerstone of Edify. In this essay artist and writer Zachary Ayotte explores the state of arts funding and how local organizations (from the Grindstone to Edmonton Opera) are innovating to survive. The parallels with local media are uncanny.
edifyedmonton.com/urban/struct...

Our city has so many hidden stories, like this one by Russell Cobb & Sarah Brandvold—a brilliantly researched piece about an Egyptian mummy in the U of A museum archives. It asks deep questions about repatriation, human dignity and how museums reckon with the past.
edifyedmonton.com/urban/histor...

But October’s issue shows what’s possible. Our cover story features extensive interviews I conducted with 6 mayoral frontrunners, each offering a vision for a city stretched by growth, safety concerns and rising costs. (BTW, total hrs of production labour? 100+)
edifyedmonton.com/people/profi...

I encourage you to read my latest editorial for a better understanding of what led to this moment and what we — as a city, as a society, as a democracy — stand to lose. edifyedmonton.com/urban/commun...

We’re not unique. Since 2008, Canada has lost 11% of its local news outlets. This gap is especially acute in Edmonton, ranked by the Local News Research Project as the third-most news-deprived city. Magazines have arguably suffered most. Edify is one of only a handful of premium city magazines left.

Why now? The marker of good journalism is transparency, so let me be frank: every issue is a fight for survival. Advertising remains an important revenue stream, but it often does not cover the cost of production, let alone our most ambitious, time-consuming stories that serve the public interest.

The Readers’ Trust lets you support investigative and narrative journalism directly. There are no tiers, no crowdfunding “perks” — just a trust (figuratively and literally) that every dollar fuels the kind of slow journalism that takes time, rigour and context. edifyedmonton.com/readers-trust/

And if you want to go deeper, check out The Business of Freelance Writing — a six-week course that goes much further. You’ll leave with a plan, a bunch of pitches and confidence. (The course starts July 15.) pandemicuniversity.com/business-of-...

I’ll share practical strategies I’ve developed over 20 years in the industry, including:
– Diversifying income beyond articles
– Building systems that help, not hinder
– The value of niche-lite
– Managing admin without losing your mind