Maryland Matters, one month in

Dear Readers:

We’re now a month into this experiment. Maryland Matters launched on March 1.

Thank you for reading – and for your terrific feedback.

We haven’t been perfect; far from it.

As we said on our first day of publishing, this is very much a work in progress. Our goal is to create a full-service news website that shines a light on Maryland government and the players behind it. We aim, when we’re fully funded, to hire a handful of reporters who will fan out across the state, bringing important news and information to our readers.

Until then, the website will look and feel much the way it does now. We’ll be scrappy and we’ll hustle to bring you interesting and fun stuff. We’ll evolve and improve as time goes on.

But please remember that everyone involved with this effort is a volunteer for now – and some of us have very intense, full-time gigs elsewhere.

We’ve had some good stories so far. We like to think we’ve shown some depth and breadth.

We’ve broken some political news. We’ve written about some behind-the-scenes action in Annapolis, and a bit about Maryland’s congressional delegation. We’ve zeroed in on the health care policy debate. We’ve featured through-provoking opinion pieces from elected officials and other political leaders. This morning, we really break the mold – with an article about a push for arts education funding in Baltimore inspired by the groundbreaking rapper Tupac Shakur.

All we can say is, “You ain’t seen nothin’ yet.”

But as we try to build a website with comprehensive coverage of Annapolis, local government throughout the state, and Capitol Hill, we need your help.

Maryland Matters is a nonprofit, a member of the Institute for Nonprofit News. Check out the Texas Tribune or the MinnPost to see what we aspire to be.

Your support makes Maryland Matters possible.  You can make a tax-deductible contribution to ensure that we can provide quality news on government and politics. Checks can be made payable to the Maryland Matters Fund and sent to Maryland Matters, P.O. Box 11121, Takoma Park, MD 20913.

We value individual contributions. But we also could use bigger, institutional help. Do you know anyone at a foundation that might want to support our work? How about in the business world? Do you know any wealthy individuals who might want to become major donors? Please let us know if you do – and please spread the word about Maryland Matters.

If you like what you’ve seen so far, please help. And keep reading! Thank you.

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