#GivingNewsDay: Even Apart, Local Journalism Brings Us Together

Dear Readers:

Coronavirus has changed nearly everything, but one thing it hasn’t changed is LevittownNow.com’s commitment to you. 

We’re here day in and day out. Since we started publishing on March 13, 2013, we’ve provided the area with fresh local news every single day. Despite the business downturn from COVID-19 and the strain on everyone involved, we’ve thankfully been able to continue publishing vital information.

At the heart of it, we know our brand of community journalism provides a public benefit and is vital to a healthy population, economy, and democracy moving forward. 

Our work wouldn’t be possible without our existing advertisers, our current In The Know Club members, and every person who provides a news tip or feedback. For the support, we are grateful beyond any words. 

Tuesday marks #GivingNewsDay, a national opportunity for residents with the means to recognize vital sources of information in their neighborhood. Locally, we’ll be extending #GivingNewsDay through the end of the week. 

Since the pandemic started, we’ve been able to deeply report on COVID-19 and also maintain coverage of other important local topics that impact your life. 

Although we don’t force any readers to pay or block their access to vital information with a paywall, that certainly doesn’t mean producing local news doesn’t come without a cost. Especially in these unprecedented times. 

Joining our In The Know Club provides a benefit for you and our community. It provides up-to-the-minute breaking news text message alerts, events, and entry into monthly contests for as low as 20 cents per day! You can’t beat that. 

For us, a major point of pride is that we’re the only remaining daily news publication in the area that is locally owned and operated. That means we keep our spending as local as we can. Our team lives locally, shops locally, and knows the ins and outs of the community. 

Here are some recent examples of reporting we’re proud to have published: 

Publisher Tom Sofield has been the only journalist to dive into the county’s contact tracing effort, one that will be vital under the governor’s reopening plan. He has also spoken with grocery store workers, uncovered COVID-19 outbreaks at large retailers like Walmart and Target, wrote about the life and legacy of a Tullytown firefighter who died from COVID-19, talked with mental health experts, and profiled a sign of hope erected in Croydon.

Reporter Elizabeth Fisher profiled the sewing warriors who have dedicated their time to create masks for front line workers, spoke with a local infectious disease specialist, and those dealing with COVID-19 and its dangers. 

Reporter Erich Martin has covered the cystic fibrosis community and how social distancing isn’t new to them and profiled a local resident’s COVID-19 case and his journey to donate plasma. 

Reporter Maxwell Reil ventured out – with a mask in hand and remaining socially distant – to cover a celebration of graduates and a community rallying around a mother with cancer.  

Reporter John Fey told the story of how several Levittown-area parents are keeping their families busy, and reporter Hal Conte focused on a local eatery giving back.

Reporters from our partners at Spotlight PA, PA Post, and The Center Square have all covered major issues that impact residents locally and statewide. They broke news on how the state had to remove 200 deaths from the COVID-19 tally, broke down the governor’s stay-at-home orders, provided context on the skyrocketing unemployment claims, fought to get vital records, wrote about food supply and panic buying, and covered oversight measures taken by Democrats and Republicans. 

The national team at Kaiser Health News has provided coverage of the reason why wearing a mask may help and interviewed a pulmonologist who explained what recovery from COVID-19 looks like.

And this is just a sampling of the coverage we’ve brought to the area. This doesn’t include more than 150 other articles and photo galleries related to COVID-19. In addition, we have published numerous other stories that have nothing to do with COVID-19 but are of interest. 

Our message is simple: Join the In The Know Club to support local journalism and local journalism will give back.

As always, thanks for reading!

Learn more about supporting local journalism today!

P.S. If you’re not able to give today, forward this message to friends and colleagues who you think would be interested in helping support our work.