CAPE COD – Today is Cape Cod Wave Magazine’s seventh birthday. It is the first birthday we’ve ever had during a global pandemic.
So while we were expecting a bunch of our seven-year-old friends to come over and have cake and play Pin The Tail On The Donkey with us, we are stuck here alone with a can of tuna and a Zoom meeting.
Still, Zoom is better than doom and so we adapt.
They say that young kids like us adapt the fastest. We’re trying.
One of the reasons we started this magazine was because we saw the decimation of the newspaper industry and how big corporate decisions made elsewhere have directly affected journalism on Cape Cod.
Several local newspapers, owned by one giant faraway corporation, have been at the mercy of bean counters who saw profit in downsizing.
The big corporation then sold to an even bigger corporation of bean counters, who did it again.
And then came the pandemic. The carnage in this industry continues.
We know many people in the industry who have lost their jobs, including a number of friends.
And yet, dear readers, it is the oddest thing.
We are pretty sure we are not the only publication to say this: Our traffic has skyrocketed. It is up 500 percent over the past few months.
What is difficult for us and for all journalists to understand is why readers find so much value in what we do, and at the same time seemingly find zero value in what we do.
So for our birthday, we are asking you to adopt a new paradigm, which is actually an old one.
Please try this on: Journalism has monetary value and I will pay for it.
So please subscribe to a local newspaper, pay for a local paywall, and/or give a donation.
The truth in our business is that a few big national publications, such as the New York Times and Washington Post, are thriving while local publications are slowly bleeding to death.
But you can help. Don’t just read. Please understand that what you read has value.
We hope we are not the only ones left who believe in the importance of journalism.
On May 16, 2013, with the words, “Morning in America starts here,” Cape Cod Wave Magazine was born.
We wanted to create a new kind of magazine on Cape Cod. We did not want to be yet another the look-at-this-pretty-house magazine.
Because we saw fewer deep-dive longform stories from Cape Cod journalists because of all the staff cuts, we hoped to fill a niche. There were stories of people we wanted to tell, and issues we wanted to explore.
Cape Cod Wave Magazine is 7 years old! CAPE COD WAVE PHOTO
And we really believed that the local music scene, and especially the geniuses who write their own original songs, needed a spotlight.
From our birth, with the general stated goal of covering surfers and guitar players, we set out to profile politicians, artists, and activists while diving into several important issues on Cape Cod.
These important issues often come down to the intersection of three issues: jobs, wages & housing. We have tried to examine this issue from a few angles.
We have written stories up to 10,000 words long. This is often excruciating work.
We have more than 200 videos of local bands. It costs us money to go out to local clubs and film and promote local bands.
Journalism is hard work. Today is our seventh birthday.
Several months ago, we quietly put a donate button at the top of our page. Besides that, this is our first public request for help and support. It took us seven years.
So please…
If you like what we are doing and what we have done through those seven years, please consider donating to help us continue.
If you are a business owner who would like to work with us, please contact us.
We do not have a paywall for a reason. We want you to be able to read our stories and we believe deeply that Cape Cod needs good journalism.
We hope you find value in our stories and consider our hard work, along with that of all other local sources of journalism, as an actual product worth paying for.
In these fraught times, we are hoping to survive, like everyone else and we are asking for your help.
We set the amount, after seven years, at $10 for a one-time donation. If you would like to give more, or less, you can send a check to Cape Cod Wave Magazine, Box 29, Falmouth, MA 02541
The donation button is at the top of every page. Thank you for reading Cape Cod Wave, and stay safe!
– Laura & Brian
