Looking Back, Looking Ahead

Before I ever started the ETX Bell, I spent time sitting down with leaders across our communities, pastors, business owners, city officials, educators, and longtime residents, asking a simple but uncomfortable question.

Does starting a local newspaper in this area, in 2025, actually make sense?

I had read the data. I had heard the studies. I understood, at least intellectually, how local newspapers can directly impact voter turnout, civic engagement, public accountability, and even economic stability. But before launching the Bell, I don’t think I truly understood what that looked like in motion.

Working out of a news desert has been extremely difficult.

Building trust takes time. Changing perceptions takes even longer. Many people had grown accustomed to the idea that posting something on social media was enough, that visibility automatically translated into engagement, sales, or attendance at a church event or community gathering.

Building new relationships while trying to maintain old ones and showing up consistently to important events across multiple communities with limited staff was often impossible. We did our best. What became clear early on is that running a community newspaper we couldn’t do it alone. We have started to build a small but growing volunteer staff.  But we also need you. We hope in 2026 that you will send us information, submit articles, and help get the word out about what matters locally.

Early in the year, we asked the question out loud on our own front page, Am I crazy for starting a newspaper in 2025? It was not a gimmick. It was a genuine question. We wanted to be honest about the environment we were stepping into and honest with readers about the challenges ahead.

That article laid out what happens when local news disappears, not in theory, but in lived experience. Fewer people are paying attention. Fewer shared facts. Fewer places where communities see themselves reflected accurately. As the year unfolded, we began to see those dynamics firsthand.

Even so, we believe we are on the right path.

Over the course of 2025, we built a core group of local advertisers who believed in the mission early, and we are deeply grateful for that partnership. We also continued to grow our subscription base, one reader at a time.

One thing became clear very quickly. It was never going to be enough to simply bring back a traditional newspaper.

We knew the paper had to come first. It gave us credibility. It connected us more deeply with the community. It helped us begin building the relationships this work depends on. At the same time, we knew from the beginning that print alone could not carry the full weight of what modern communities need.

That said, our hope has always been, and remains, to continue building toward the weekly print newspaper we originally set out to create.

As we move into 2026, we are preparing to build on the foundation laid in our first year with deeper integration into social platforms, digital services, podcasts, and more community-driven content. Our goal is not to chase attention, but to create tools and coverage that genuinely benefit residents and local businesses.

We are still printing a monthly print edition, and we are now publishing a near-weekly digital edition. As we become financially able, we plan to continue growing both.

We hope you will help us continue this mission. Subscribe to the paper. Follow and share our social media pages. Partner with us through advertising. Talk about the stories you see here.

As we grow, we know we have made missteps, and we will continue to make some along the way. What matters is that we remain committed to learning, listening, and working alongside the community to cover more ground, tell better stories, and highlight what truly makes these towns special.

With that in mind, here is a look back at our first year.