A Letter From Our Editor

Do you want to see Chattanooga thrive?

So do we.

At the Chattanooga Times Free Press, we believe strong local news and information is essential to a strong community. A longtime reader recently referred to the newspaper as the city’s “connective tissue.”

Every day, our reporters work to keep you informed, shine a light on important issues and tell the stories that bring us together as neighbors.

We’re grateful we get to cover a vibrant, evolving and geographically beautiful part of the world. We take seriously the responsibility to record the first draft of this community’s history.

But here’s the truth: producing quality, independent news reporting is expensive — and the business of local news is struggling. 

Print advertising revenue that supported local news for decades has shifted to digital platforms like Google and Meta, which scrape our reporting and repurpose it for their own audiences. As a result, over the past 20 years, nearly 40% of U.S. newspapers have closed. Others have been consolidated in ways that drastically reduce local coverage.

At the Times Free Press, we’ve worked hard to adapt to the changing business model. Today, we operate a leaner, more efficient organization with a strong newsroom committed to serving Chattanooga. But subscriptions and advertising alone are no longer enough to sustain the level of reporting our community deserves.

In these rapidly changing times, with concerns around local education, job growth and housing development reaching a fever pitch, we want to be able to expand coverage of the biggest questions facing Chattanooga. We also want to offer more public service, investigative journalism, and this is going to require resources beyond the essential support of our subscribers. 

That’s why we’re asking for your help.

We’re asking for your support to help maintain a vital source of trusted information, accountability and connection. 

We’re asking you for a tax deductible gift that will allow us to keep doing the type of reporting that will help our community unearth truth and solve problems. Donations will be made via the nonprofit Tennessee Press Association Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit.

The work funded by donations will be available at no charge for anyone to read — funded by the community for the community.

When you give to the Times Free Press, you’re not just supporting a newspaper. You’re investing in the health and strength of our entire region.

Please consider a gift to the Times Free Press Local News Project to ensure that Chattanooga continues to have the independent and trustworthy local news and information it deserves. Together, we can keep our community informed, connected and thriving.

Thank you for standing with us.

Thank you,

Alison Gerber