Support iBerkshires, Support Local News on Giving Tuesday

Dear Readers,

iBerkshires.com, like many small local businesses, struggled through the pandemic. We understood that the local businesses that supported us with advertising through the years were having their own problems. And we knew that our readers were dealing with disruptions as well. 

During that time, we did our best to keep everyone updated on the course of the pandemic, its affect on schools and the community, and to provide a place for local business to keep their customers apprised of their hours and policies for free. 

Our goal for the past two decades has been to keep our community informed about the important events happening in the Berkshires. That has meant keeping access to our content as free as possible.

Three years ago, we first asked if our readers would be interested in subscription donations. The response was heartening and now we're asking if you would like to help us again.

There are many great causes out there to help on Giving Tuesday. But if you like us, you can support the work we're doing for as a little as the cost of a cup of coffee a week.

What began 20 years ago as a community billboard has now become the go-to news source for the Berkshires.

How did this happen? In three words: We show up.

We show up at hurricanes, budget meetings, high school games, accidents, fires, community events, parades. We show up at celebrations and tragedies and everything in between. We show up so our readers can learn about the pivotal events that can affect their communities and their lives.

We do it because we feel it is our mission, both as journalists and community members, to make sure citizens know what's happening in their own neighborhoods.

We have done all this without instituting a paywall.

We are a locally owned and operated business that is dependent on advertising to keep our small news team going. But the advertising landscape has changed dramatically over the past decade.

So we're asking how important is local news to you? Would you consider financially supporting the work we're doing to cover your communities?

Here's what you are getting now from iBerkshires:

• Free access daily on our site to local news and sports (no paywall!)
• Free daily and weekly email bulletins to keep you abreast of local news
• Free calendar postings for local events
• Coverage of local meetings from city councils to school committees
• Browse thousands of images of parades, ceremonies, sports, graduations and proms
• Extensive coverage of high school sports
• Breaking news, accidents and fires
• Articles about new businesses, school events, local people
• Coverage of local politics and elections
• Free access to more than 12,000 obituaries

What your contribution will go toward: Retaining and adding staff writers, editors and programmers; purchasing equipment to enhance our ability to cover local news; expanding our coverage areas.

We will continue to strive to be your No. 1 news source for all things in Berkshire County.

You can help sustain local news coverage in a very challenging era for journalism. Numerous newspapers have cut back or closed over the past decade, including the North Adams Transcript and The Advocate, because of the changes in how we consume news. Large holding companies are buying up newspapers and wringing every last cent out of them.

That's not the way iBerkshires operates. You won't find pop-ups, or click-bait headlines about celebrities or skeevy ads that some other sites use to make money. We're all local — including our advertisers, so don't forget to support them, too.

Help keep iBerkshires going and growing. Buy us a cup of coffee.

If you have questions or for more information, contact us at info@iberkshires.com.

Cost, Access to NBCTC High Among Concerns North Berkshire Residents

By Tammy DanielsiBerkshires Staff
06:15PM / Thursday, April 25, 2024

Adams Select Chair Christine Hoyt, NBCTC Executive Director David Fabiano and William Solomon, the attorney representing the four communities, talk after the session. 

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Public access channels should be supported and made more available to the public — and not be subject to a charge.

 

More than three dozen community members in-person and online attended the public hearing  Wednesday on public access and service from Spectrum/Charter Communications. The session at City Hall was held for residents in Adams, Cheshire, Clarksburg and North Adams to express their concerns to Spectrum ahead of another 10-year contract that starts in October.

 

Listening via Zoom but not speaking was Jennifer Young, director state government affairs at Charter.

 

One speaker after another conveyed how critical local access television is to the community and emphasized the need for affordable and reliable services, particularly for vulnerable populations like the elderly. 

 

"I don't know if everybody else feels the same way but they have a monopoly," said Clarksburg resident David Emery. "They control everything we do because there's nobody else to go to. You're stuck with with them."

 

Public access television, like the 30-year-old Northern Berkshire Community Television, is funded by cable television companies through franchise fees, member fees, grants and contributions.

 

Spectrum is the only cable provider in the region and while residents can shift to satellite providers or streaming, Northern Berkshire Community Television is not available on those alternatives and they may not be easy for some to navigate. For instance, the Spectrum app is available on smart televisions but it doesn't include PEG, the public, educational and governmental channels provided by NBCTC.