Editor’s Notebook: A win for the Bulletin, a win for New Hampshire journalism

Last week, the New Hampshire Bulletin took home 10 awards from the New Hampshire Press Association Distinguished Journalism Contest. As I said in a short story we posted on Friday to announce the awards, “I couldn’t be more proud of Amanda, Ethan, and Annmarie” – and I meant it.

It’s not easy to keep track of the 400-member New Hampshire House of Representatives, the 24-member State Senate, the Governor and Executive Council, the many state departments, and the hundreds of bills filed by lawmakers every year. And that’s only the beginning of the reporters’ work: The crucial step is explaining to readers what it all means for them. Somehow, the Bulletin’s three all-star reporters manage to do all of this thoroughly and without complaint. Well, almost without complaint – they are still human.

I’m grateful for the awards and what they represent, and I also appreciate our team’s day in and day out contributions to the pages and websites of other news outlets in New Hampshire and beyond. The Bulletin was founded on a mission to supplement the news reporting of local news outlets decimated by budget cuts because our democracy depends on a well-informed public.

So when editors throughout the state run our stories it means they believe the work that Amanda Gokee, Ethan DeWitt, and Annmarie Timmins put in each day is of value to their readers. And that feels great for all four of us. But their decision to publish our work also means they can assign their own talented reporters to stories that might have gone unwritten if they had to worry about staffing an important vote in the House or a crucial Senate committee hearing.

Any outlet that wants to republish our content can do so for free and as frequently as they choose – and on a typical week that adds up to more than 60 reprints. We take pride in the work we post on newhampshirebulletin.com each day, and we also take pride in the Bulletin’s overall contribution to the journalism landscape in New Hampshire. 

It is the definition of a win-win.

And now, some more good news: The Bulletin is growing a little bit. Talia Heisey of UMass Amherst has joined the staff as a summer intern – our first. We’re excited to have Talia on board to add to our coverage while they hone their craft with help from the newly award-winning Bulletin reporting staff.

It’s going to be an exciting summer, and we appreciate all of you for reading our stories, subscribing to our newsletter, and supporting our nonprofit work through donations.

Thank you – and stay tuned.