There are certain things I say so often about The Daily Memphian that they sometimes don’t seem true. One is that it doesn’t seem like it’s been five years since we launched. 

But today, Sept. 17, 2023, is five years since The Daily Memphian went live. In that time, we’ve expanded our coverage dramatically, grown to 40 full-time journalists and 20 freelancers, published more than 35,000 articles and had a major impact on Memphis and the surrounding area. 

That last part, celebrating our impact on Memphis, can be a hard one for us to say. Not because it isn’t true, but because journalists usually don’t like to take that sort of credit. But it is in fact The Daily Memphian’s fifth anniversary. We need to celebrate, if only just for a moment.

Andy Cates, Eric Barnes continue discussion about The Daily Memphian

Here’s another thing I say so often that the significance can get lost in the repetition. Local news in this country is collapsing. Many local newsrooms have seen their staffs reduced by 90 percent over the last two decades. At least 2,500 local newspapers have gone out of business completely. Roughly 2,000 newspapers are, in effect, ghost papers — published in their community, but staffed by few (or even zero) local journalists. 

This is not just awful for the people who’ve lost their jobs. It’s a danger, an absolute threat, to the communities that have lost their local newsrooms. Newspapers are imperfect. But they are an essential connection between citizens and the truth. They are critical to holding government accountable. They are an invaluable source of information that would otherwise be unavailable.

The Daily Memphian was launched in the face of that collapse. But by no means have we accomplished everything we want. 

The truth is that The Daily Memphian’s success will in no small part be defined by how well we constantly evolve and grow over time. It will be defined as much by the newest reporters on our staff as it is by the veteran journalists who’ve been with us since the very beginning. 

It also means our technology will have to advance. It means the way we reach people — on the website, on the app, via email, via smart phones and social media — will change. It means the way we financially support the organization will continue to evolve.

Dan Conaway on The Daily Memphian’s 5th anniversary. And yelling. So much yelling.

On that last point, I’m incredibly proud of how far we’ve come in funding The Daily Memphian. We’re a 501(c)(3) nonprofit for a reason. Philanthropy made this news organization possible. Because this is a very, very difficult business. Witness the decimation of newspapers and newsrooms nationwide. 

Yet despite the challenges of this industry, in this fifth full year of our existence we’ll have reduced our reliance on philanthropy from 90% of our expenses in 2018 to close to 20% in 2023. That’s been possible because of subscribers, advertisers and sponsors. 

Without those sources of revenue, we would not have been able to do what we’ve done. In fact, while many nonprofit news sites have launched in the last 10 years, I would venture that few if any of them have established sustainable revenue streams outside of fundraising like The Daily Memphian has. And some of those that have relied solely on fundraising and free content have been forced to cut staff or close completely. 

Yet even as we’ve generated revenue through subscriptions and advertising, we’ve simultaneously given free access to The Daily Memphian to hundreds of local schools, libraries and community organizations. Similarly, we made our COVID-19 coverage free during the height of the pandemic, and we’ve made election coverage free for years. 

And so, for a few weeks at least, we’re going to celebrate the successes of The Daily Memphian. We’ll be doing a few more things to mark the moment. I did a two-part podcast with Andy Cates, board chair and one of the co-founders of The Daily Memphian. I interviewed Dan Conaway, who did most of the original branding of The Daily Memphian. I’ll be interviewing staff members in coming weeks. We’re running photo galleries covering the past five years as well as collections of some of our favorite and most important stories.

There’s also an advertising campaign to celebrate the five years — and, yes, it’s coupled with a donation campaign for those who want to support us beyond their subscription and advertising. Because while I wish the subscriptions and advertising who support us covered all our expenses, they don’t. At least not yet. 

Lastly, I should thank so many people and organizations who’ve made The Daily Memphian possible. I can’t possibly name them all here — I’d leave too many out. That includes all our subscribers, donors and advertisers. It includes every staff member in the newsroom and outside of it. Every freelancer and guest columnist. All the consultants, associations and journalists in Memphis and around the country who’ve helped to guide us. It includes the people who give me advice on The Daily Memphian when I’m in the grocery store. 

It even includes our commenters on the site and social media. 

Well, most of the commenters. 

The Daily Memphian is a reflection of everyone who participates in this endeavor. So thanks to all of you.

And onto the next five years.