Looking ahead
Some behind-the-scenes news on news … The (re)birth of the Agendaverse … And Now Hiring.
We’ve had a big shakeup at the Tucson Agenda.
Curt moved to Pennsylvania last week. And Caitlin is stepping away from the Tucson Agenda to pursue other projects.
Running a small business is difficult, and it’s common to see a shakeup a year or so after launch, when a business figures out what vision it should follow. We just went through ours.
Although Curt is happy he’ll get to be closer to his family in Pennsylvania, he’s lived in Southern Arizona for 18 years and he’ll always be a Tucsonan at heart. It’s unfortunate the Tucson Agenda is losing Caitlin. And it sucks to go through a business breakup with friends. The whole process was mentally and emotionally draining for everyone involved.
But we’ve each decided to pursue our own visions for how to bring more news to Southern Arizona. And in the long run, we believe Tucson will be better off for it.
In the short term, you won’t notice much difference. We’ll still be in your inbox every weekday at 6 a.m.
Curt has all the connections and tools he needs to do the job remotely for a while. And Hank and Nicole, who both started their reporting careers covering Tucson, are excited to rack up some travel expenses.
Hank is going to split his time between Phoenix and Tucson, as he did while running The Yellow Sheet from Tucson for almost two years. So say hi if you see him stalking a local city council member.
But more broadly, this is an opportunity for a rebirth.
The Tucson Agenda is going to feel a lot more like the Arizona Agenda going forward.
It will always be centered on Southern Arizona, but it’ll have a tighter focus on our local government and politicians — how their actions impact you and what you can do about it.
And you should expect to see a big dose of fun and creativity in the way we report the news from here on out. We’re also doubling down on public records, technology and data.
But we can’t do this without permanent, local boots on the ground. (Even if the whole team is made up of Tucsonans (at heart)).
Finding the right people is the hardest part of running a startup. Even a great reporter may not be a great fit. It’s an important decision that we can’t rush, though we’d still like to rush it.
The Tucson Agenda is still growing. But right now, it’s earning enough revenue to pay one local reporter probably more than they’ve ever earned — or enough to pay two local reporters less than they’re worth. The Arizona Agenda has grown to a point where it can help cover some of that gap, and we think that by finally fusing the two, we can make a stronger company and a better newsletter.
When we launched the Tucson Agenda a little more than a year ago, it was a bold experiment.
“Could we stitch together several tiny newsrooms laser-focused on their communities — be that the Arizona political community, a community focused on a single issue like water, or a community as in a city or town — to create a new kind of employee-owned profit/resource/revenue-sharing newsroom that has a statewide impact and reach?”
The answer is yes. We call it “the Agendaverse.”
But a plan never turns out exactly as you imagined at the start. It’s always evolving. And we’re not satisfied building a separate, siloed newsletter in Tucson.
That’s the opportunity we’re presented with now. To build a new kind of newsroom with a focused impact and statewide reach.
We’re eternally grateful to all of you who believe in this vision and supported us with your time and money. The Tucson Agenda exists because of you. And it will continue to exist because we’re in this for the long haul for you.
If you’re as excited about what’s ahead as we are, please consider smashing that button to help make it possible.
With your continued support, we know great things are ahead.
Thank you for the straightforward report on what is happening at Tucson Agenda. When a colleague and I started our company in 1988, we chose a particular focus. Over the first couple of years, we discovered clients wanted us to work in a related, but broader focus. It's a learning experience that many startups have. I look forward to seeing the next steps as the whole world of journalism evolves.. I have great respect and appreciation for the hard work that Caitlyn and Curt put into the creation of a local news agency focused on what is happening in southern Arizona. My best wishes to both of them as they continue their careers. They are top-notch journalists. Their work is much needed by our world today.
Couple things: 1). I subscribed to the Agenda to learn things about Tucson (LOCAL), not all of Arizona. In particular (and I mentioned this when answering your recent survey), I appreciated learning about the GOOD stuff — i.e., what the local non-profits are doing to make our city better, etc., because the Arizona Daily Star doesn’t always cover those things. (I get enough politics and discouraging news from other sources). 2) Annual renewals came due just a few days before the announcement. Coincidence?
So, I am disappointed and frustrated, but I am willing to hang in and see where those of you who are left take this. Local news and information are imperative to the community, so I’m rooting for The Agenda to succeed.