Can you believe CNS is more than 15 years old? A lot has happened over the last decade and a half, and we have done our best to keep you all abreast of what’s going on. We wish we could afford to do this for free, but sadly we do need cash to keep this thing afloat. So we’d like to take this opportunity, while everyone’s full of eggnog and Christmas cheer, to ask for a little something in our Holiday Tip Jar — enough for a nip of brandy, a bottle of wine, a case of beer even — however much you feel we deserve.
To our year-round Santas who generously donated in 2022, we say a huge “Thank you!” especially those who have made this a monthly donation. It truly warms our hearts, not just the clink of change, or whatever sound PayPal makes, but just to know we are appreciated.
Because, while our news is free to read, it’s not free to produce. At CNS we cut expenses down to a minimum. We don’t have a flashy office (actually no office at all) and we don’t drive fancy cars. But sadly, we still need to live and pay our bills.
When online news first appeared, most of it was free. But now reliable local news outlets, and even big international media houses, are in trouble the world over and having to change their business model, increasingly relying on funding from their readers. If you’re in the habit of reading news from elsewhere, you’ll have noticed that news websites are increasingly putting all or part of their content behind a paywall. The exceptions to this tend to be highly partisan publications receiving funding from rich backers.
Since the first newspapers were printed in the 17th Century, news has relied on advertising to support it. But these days, massive global companies like Google (plus YouTube) and Facebook not only accelerate the distribution of fake news and absurd conspiracy theories, they are also increasingly gobbling up marketing budgets.
And the message from certain quarters to ‘shop local’ doesn’t seem to include advertising.
We don’t think a paywall will work in the Cayman Islands — there just aren’t enough people. And anyway, we want all those people who disagree with us to continue reading our sites and engage in discussion in the comment section. There’s no debate if everyone agrees, and although it gets contentious at times, that’s what makes democracy work. One of the problems with everyone getting their news just from Facebook, especially government-sponsored pages, is that they all end up in their various silos. Whatever your political slant, that’s not good.
When we launched CNS, we knew we couldn’t pander to either big business or whatever government was in power. For us, there is just no point in doing what we do if we have to compromise our ethics. Good for our souls, not so good for our bank balance.
So we need your help, those of you who love us and appreciate the coverage we give to topics that would otherwise be buried — and we are hoping that you can find your way to leaving a tip and support local journalism.
There are other ways to help. You can help us and help your own business by advertising on the CNS website, and you can find our price lists here.
It would help if you just shared our articles with friends, family and co-workers.
Thanks for sticking with us all these years!
We hope you all have a wonderful Christmas
and a very happy New Year!
Wendy and Nicky