We are coming up on the one-year anniversary of The Southern Scoop and I am beyond proud of what we have accomplished together over the last year.
I launched The Southern Scoop News in the midst of the COVID19 pandemic when news and information were changing by the hour. Residents in Western North Carolina were in an information blackout, with no local source to turn to for around-the-clock, timely updates to the ever-changing situation surrounding the global pandemic. There wasn’t a source for questions to be answered or a central source for help finding a multitude of resources that helped our friends and neighbors survive the unprecedented time.
The Southern Scoop became that place.
Over the last year, we have grown from a social media platform to a website that works 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to cover news in Macon, Jackson, and Swain Counties while keeping tabs on local, state, and federal news that impacts the lives of Western North Carolinians.
I pour my heart and soul into The Southern Scoop every single day and it has truly been a dream to provide this service to the community over the last year. I strive to keep the public informed on all government meetings, public education news, business developments, and public safety crime coverage. I wanted to create a place for businesses to be able to promote their hours and specials in an affordable manner and to connect employees with employers and bridge the informational gap that rural residents often find themselves stuck in.
I have loved every minute of producing The Southern Scoop, even on the tough days. For as long as I am able, I vow to continue providing the public with timely, breaking news — regardless of the time of day or day of the week. Rural residents of our state deserve to have access to news and information as it happens… not only reading about it a week later when it becomes an afterthought.
Many of our friends and neighbors have yet to see their businesses bounce back from the COVID10 pandemic, and now crippled with a workforce shortage, so many businesses are still not operating as usual. This has made securing advertising for The Southern Scoop extremely difficult. And while I would love to continue to dedicate all of my time and resources to The Southern Scoop, unfortunately, it does not currently produce the amount of advertising revenue needed to continue to do that.
While I do have a Patreon account set up for the general public to donate and support The Southern Scoop, the revenues there have also been minimal. I am extremely grateful for the support I have received that has allowed me to provide this service for as long as I have.
I have been able to balance the financial obligations of my family with part-time jobs such as substitute teaching, but now that option is no longer available. After a year, I have reached a point that I have to make a decision that will best support my family financially.
With that being said, I will continue The Southern Scoop, however, the capacity in which I will be doing that may be changing over the next few weeks as I search for alternative means of income. Hopefully, at some point, The Southern Scoop will be self-supporting, but right now, that just isn’t the reality.
Thank you all for an amazing year and I hope you stick around to watch the future of The Southern Scoop evolve.
If you find value in the work produced by The Southern Scoop News and want to see it continue, please consider being a patron on our online funding platform, Patreon. Your continuations help ensure that we are able to continue to provide the community with quality, timely, community news in Western North Carolina. To donate, please click here.
Forever grateful,
Brittney Lofthouse
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