Northern Westchester Group Launches The Recorder Nonprofit Newspaper

A group of volunteer area residents have joined together to launch The Recorder, a new nonprofit, nonpartisan news outlet covering the towns of Bedford, Lewisboro and Pound Ridge, NY. The Recorder will cover town government, local sports, arts, schools, food, environment, business, shopping, real estate, and other topics, along with a comprehensive events calendar and the popular police blotter. The Recorder will deliver high-quality journalism produced by a local editorial team with prior experience at such top news organizations as CBS News, NY Daily News, Gannett, Hearst, NY Times, USA Today, Vogue, WNYC and others.

Following the sudden closing of the long-established Record-Review local newspaper in January, which left a news void in the community, a group of local residents started developing a weekly print newspaper and companion website connecting residents, civic organizations and businesses in a sizable portion of northern Westchester with a combined population of approximately 28,000. The Recorder’s coverage area will encompass the aforementioned three towns' hamlets: Bedford Hills, Bedford Village, Cross River, Goldens Bridge, Katonah, Scotts Corners, South Salem, Vista and Waccabuc.

The acceleration of internet and mobile technology, changing habits of news consumption and declines in advertising revenue have decimated the national and local newspaper industry. In recent years, over 2,600 newspapers across the United States have closed, resulting in hundreds of counties becoming “news deserts,” with the gap too often filled by social media misinformation or hyper-partisan “ghost” newspapers. Numerous studies confirm that such a situation can result in increased polarization, less government oversight, less effective schools, lower cultural event participation and sports engagement, fewer opportunities for businesses to attract customers, and a general decline in civic involvement.

To help insulate The Recorder from these headwinds, a 501c3 nonprofit business was incorporated, funded by voluntary tax-deductible contributions and annual paid subscriptions, as well as advertising revenues. The Recorder team then successfully raised funds from numerous local donors committed to supporting independent local journalism.

A newspaper called The Katonah Recorder preceded the current incarnation of The Recorder by more than 150 years, and fragments of the defunct publication still turn up. Recently renovations being done at a building in Katonah uncovered tattered pages from the paper’s Jan. 7, 1896 issue under the floorboards. According to its founders, The Recorder aims to honor this legacy of local news by focusing on the future and taking the needed steps to build a local news organization that will endure.

Additional information about The Recorder can be found at https://www.therecorder.org/welcome. Contact The Recorder 's staff at info@therecorder.org.