Five years.
It’s been five years since Lucie Krisman and Riley Wilson started working with me to launch The Eudora Times. We had no business plan. We just knew what we were doing was important.
Five years later, rarely a week goes by where I am not being interviewed by media, an academic researcher or professors from around the country about what we’re doing here in Eudora to help save local news.
We started just running a few stories a week. Now we aim to fill our newsletter with nine pieces of content a week.
We started by being open 30 weeks a year. Now we’re open 47 weeks a year.
We started with just two reporters. Now we have a staff of seven, including a full-time reporter. About 40 KU students total have done some work in the community the past five years.
We started with nickels and dimes. We’ve since given out over $70,000 to support new journalists with their real-life education. (We thank Dean Ann Brill, our mighty Endowment rep Marlys Shulda, the Poynter-Koch fellowship and every one of you who has donated to keep us going.)
We were a new newspaper in the state. We’ve since won 50 awards for our work. (And give a tremendous thanks to Emily Bradbury with the Kansas Press Association for her constant support.)
No one in the community knew who we were or why we would want to be here. Since then, you’ve grown to like seeing familiar faces on the sidelines and showing up for community events.
What we’re doing here has been talked about at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., and as far away as Wales. A national reporter from D.C. came to feature us this past year. One from New York City is coming this summer.
But what we do goes beyond even this. Our alumni make a tremendous impact here but then go on and take what they have learned to make a Eudora difference in communities around the country.
Here’s what some of the most familiar faces to you are doing now.
Lucie Krisman
Lucie is a business reporter for the Johnson County Post. Before the Johnson County Post rebranded, it was the Blue Valley Post, and she covered the city of Leawood and the Blue Valley School District for them.
Riley Wilson
Riley lives in Dallas and graduated from Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law last year. She now works as an associate attorney at Thompson Coburn, LLP, where she practices business litigation.
Sydney Hoover
Sydney is pursuing a master’s degree in teaching at the University of North Carolina Wilmington. She aims to teach journalism or English.
Cami Koons
Cami now works for Kansas City PBS as a rural affairs reporter. She writes and produces video content to connect rural and urban folks in the region.
Chris Fortune
Chris is a multimedia journalist/weekend anchor and producer at News-Press Now in St. Joseph.
Abby Shepherd
Abby graduated from the University of Kansas in May 2023 with degrees in journalism and political science. She lives in Washington, D.C., and works as a reporter with Inside Defense.
Will Crow
Will is digital editor and photographer at Ingram’s Magazine, a business publication in Kansas City. He oversees the website’s news stories, a daily newsletter based on industry sectors that the city is known for and recently started contributing more to the print editions.
Jack Denebeim
Jack was just hired as the sports editor for the Sedalia Democrat. He continues to help us out with sports advice at The Eudora Times when we need it.
Sara Maloney
Sara graduated in May 2023 and has continued with The Eudora Times since then through a Poynter-Koch fellowship. We have since cobbled together enough funding to keep her through December.
Where do we go from here? It’s a question I ponder all the time.
We would like to do more work to provide news to De Soto in the future but need more funding. We would like to be able to permanently have a full-time reporter but need continued funding.
We started on a hope and a prayer and just worked day by day to grow. With your support, we can continue doing it. News is not free. It costs us money to be able to grow like we have and to provide the services that we do. Please donate to us in any amount at this link.
Thanks for the last five years, Eudora. It’s been our honor to serve you, and we hope to continue serving you into the future.
