The future of independent journalism in Church Hill

The time has come.

On November 15th, 2024, I filed my very first column at The Lookout. This month, after more than a year of publishing neighborhood news and views from Richmond’s East End, I finally got around to offering paid subscriptions. The future of independent journalism in Church Hill: we’re living it. If you’ve enjoyed this newsletter, I hope you’ll consider chipping in:

Huge thanks to all the readers that have already stepped up to fund this work!

To best serve the neighborhood, The Lookout’s regular coverage will always be free to read, but paying subscribers will get bonus items, invites, and other goodies to be determined. If you can afford to pay $5 a month to keep The Lookout sustainable, please do. If you’re a local business owner or independently wealthy journalism junky who’d like to underwrite The Lookout’s coverage with a larger contribution, a) fantastic and b) please get in touch by emailing [email protected].

If you can’t afford to upgrade, don’t sweat it. Think of this like the Wikipedia model, or the honor system. Pay what you can, if you can. Subscription fees from each according to his ability, neighborhood newsletters to each according to his need. Or something like that.

For the past year, I’ve been publishing The Lookout “on spec,” which is a little bit of media trade jargon for “not making money.” Which was fine, to start. It doesn’t cost very much to operate a media property when your labor costs are nil. I think I’m into this project for something like $250 out of pocket, when accounting for hosting and platform fees, and a couple runs of stickers. Not bad!

Unfortunately, as a working journalist with 15 years of experience and many of the financial responsibilities typical for a person in their late thirties, my labor costs are not actually nil. In effect, I’ve been donating my time to The Lookout, because I believe in the importance of independent media, and I care about Richmond’s East End. In that time, I’ve published a variety of stories with a neighborhood-specific lens you won’t find anywhere else, including:

• Like Google Street View, but for Richmond history

• In Union Hill, city's rezoning pitch draws praise, dismay

• Newbille silent on feds accessing RPD data for "immigration enforcement"

• At this historic church, Juneteenth is for everyone

• Fix your stuff and find your people at Repair Cafe RVA

• East End schools need $500,000, pronto

• The controversial, high-tech recording devices all over Church Hill

I’d like to keep publishing this kind of work because I believe the East End deserves it. If you do too, smash this button to fund The Lookout:

With the exception of litter critter-at-large Penelope Poubelle, who pens Possum Poetry each week in exchange for tasty trash, The Lookout is a one-man band. Operating as I do out of my home office on East Broad Street with the equipment and resources I already have for my other, non-Richmond-related journalism, its overhead is low. Virtually all of your subscription fee directly funds journalism about your neighborhood, produced by a journalist who lives here. This revenue will first go towards covering the critical line items that keep The Lookout running, such as:

• Fixed publishing costs like hosting and platform fees

• Variable reporting costs like must-have public-records request fees

• A stipend for my labor and experience as a journalist

With additional revenue, I can begin to focus on some “nice-to-have” items that will improve and broaden The Lookout’s coverage, such as:

• A podcast about East End history

• Freelance reporting contributions

• Neighborhood-centric guides and directories

• More ambitious/aggressive public-records requests

The basic dynamic, as you’ve likely sussed out, is that the more readers step up to fund The Lookout, the more The Lookout will be able to do. If you’re willing to throw in $5 a month, here’s how:

And again, if your business, family trust, etc. would like to underwrite this newsletter with a larger contribution, please inquire by sending me an email at [email protected]. I’d love to hear from you.

Thanks again for your readership, comments, tips, etc. over the past year. I’m grateful to everybody who has welcomed The Lookout into their inboxes in that time, and look forward to another year of publishing essential stories about Richmond’s East End with your support.

📜 Possum Poetry

Possum Poetry is original verse written exclusively for The Lookout by Penelope Poubelle, the Lookout’s litter critter-at-large. If you spot roadside trash you’d like her to immortalize in doggerel, email a photo to [email protected]. All submissions anonymous!

🎉 CHA holiday festivities, fundraising a wintry win

The Church Hill Association’s seasonal programming last weekend, with hundreds of East Enders joining in the annual Candlelight Walk on a frigid Friday evening, and hundreds more making the rounds to scope historic homes and buildings in greater Church Hill on Sunday’s 59th-annual Holiday House Tour.

Your humble Lookout editor was in the crowd for the former event, and took a quick video of The Richmond Pipe and Drum Bagpipe Band playing “Amazing Grace”:

My debut as a docent on the CHA’s Holiday House Tour, however, was sadly scotched by a last-minute personal matter. I’ve since heard from several hosts and docents along the route that the tour was tons of fun and appeared to be very well-attended. Recall, this is one of the 501(c)(3) org’s most important fundraiser of the year, and according to incoming treasurer Megan Anthony, it’s shaping up to be a doozy. While the CHA had targeted an $11,000 take, pre-sold ticket sales exceeded $14,000, with all-important day-of totals still outstanding.

🎤 Bellwether Sessions cofounders score citywide accolade

The final Bellwether Sessions show of the year took place in mid-November. But for an encore on a terrific third season of tunes, Style Weekly on Monday named co-founding couple Lauren Albee and Grant Mathews to its annual Top 40 Under 40 list, which showcases young (ish?) people around Richmond working to make the city “a better, more unique and welcoming place.” The co-proprietors of the Bellwether Garage have certainly done that for Church Hill.

Read more about Albee and Mathews and their vision for the Bellwether Sessions in The Lookout’s feature on their homegrown series earlier this year. (Before Style Weekly tuned in, I might add.)

📢 Happenings on The Hill

• Floating all the way: The 2025 Richmond Boat Parade of Lights sets sail Saturday (12/13) at 5pm at Rocketts Landing. More info here.

• Last-minute shopping: Score gifts at the final Richmond Night Market of the year in Shockoe Bottom this Saturday from 5-9pm. Details, right this way.

• Seasonal socializing: The CHA is holding a social gathering in lieu of its final membership meeting of the year next Tuesday (12/16) from 6:30-8pm at Patrick Henry’s Pub. See you there?

• Order up: As it (hopefully!) finishes up its long-awaited brick-and-mortar project on Venable St., Oro is accepting preorders for Christmas dinner items to round out your holiday feast. Details here, form here.

Happenings on The Hill is a digital bulletin board for events, causes, and other items of interest to East Enders that don’t necessarily merit full editorial treatment. Got something for a future edition? Email the relevant details, links, etc. to [email protected] for consideration!

📸 A Very CHill Photo

Want to share your Very CHill Photo from the neighborhood? Email it to [email protected] with your name as you’d like it to appear for publication, and the camera you shot it on.