The COVID-19 pandemic has affected the lives of every American on a scale not seen since World War II. The ramifications of this unprecedented challenge have struck the White House, the Blaine House and every city and town hall in between.
Through it all, The Times Record is providing local coverage of how local government, social services and health care providers are responding – coverage that’s unavailable anywhere else.
Our stories have examined how Bath Iron Works – our region’s largest employer – has continued operating, and the fallout that decision has on its 6,800-person workforce. We’ve told the stories of businesses trying to navigate these choppy waters long enough to outlast the virus. We’ve examined the impact COVID-19 has had on Brunswick’s newest residents: the refugees who have settled here from Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo. And we’ve shined a light on how the pandemic is disproportionally harming those who can least afford it.
Though physically isolated, our connections with friends, neighbors and community are perhaps more important now than ever. The Times Record helps by continuing its mission of providing local, legitimate journalism so that we all stay connected.
As coronavirus continues to take its toll on the economy, small, local businesses are suffering. Storefronts we’ve come to know and love have gone dark on Brunswick’s Maine Street, Bath’s Front Street, the Topsham Fair Mall, Freeport, Wiscasset … the list goes on. Many of these businesses have been loyal advertisers in The Times Record, and we’ve come to know many of the owners as friends and partners in our community.
As they’ve been forced to cut back their operations, many small businesses have made the tough choices to slash expenditures, and that has a direct impact on The TR. There’s simply less money for businesses to spend on advertising.
We want to continue to provide the kind of in-depth journalism readers have come to expect from the TR, and to do that we need to keep our small but driven team of journalists working.
Here’s how you can help.
- Purchase a subscription.
- Gift a subscription to someone else who appreciates the role independent journalism plays in keeping our community informed.
- Make a tax-deductible donation via the Local News Fund at givebutter.com/timesrecord, and that money will be earmarked toward our ongoing, local coverage of this crisis.
If you’re already a subscriber, thank you. If not for you, The TR wouldn’t exist. Every time you renew your subscription, it matters. Every time you share an article on social media, it counts. Every time you gift a subscription to a friend or family member, it helps.
In various incarnations, The Times Record and its predecessors (The Brunswick Record and The Bath Daily Times) have covered life in the Midcoast for 200 years. As long as Maine has been a state, we’ve been there, chronicling the triumphs, failures and curiosities of our local government, businesses, schools and sports teams.
We want to be here for the next 200 years of Maine’s history. To do that, we need support from you: our neighbors, our community.
John Swinconeck is the executive editor of The Times Record.
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