As we’ve mentioned recently, we’re going to be improving The Border Chronicle and expanding. We’ll have more details in the coming weeks. This week we brought on Brenda Machado, our very first digital strategist and audience engagement hire, which is huge for us. We now have a greater presence on social media platforms, and we’re already seeing the difference. When Brenda is not working her magic on social media for us she is studying for her Master’s in Bilingual Journalism and Latin American Studies at the University of Arizona. Welcome Brenda!

Brenda Machado, our new (and first!) digital strategist and audience engagement staffer.

After four years, we are excited about the notion of growing, but to be honest we’re also a little freaked out because we’re continuing to see a significant drop in paid subscribers. The drop was particularly steep in September when many of our annual subscription renewals came up, and it’s continuing to drop. Every dollar that we make from subscriptions goes back into our reporting at the border. And it allows us to hire more reporters, which we’d really like to do. We’ve recently received some foundation support but it’s our readers and listeners who we rely on to keep The Border Chronicle afloat. So if you haven’t renewed or are considering becoming a paid subscriber, please do so today! It’s just $6 a month or a discounted $60 a year. Or better yet, become a founding member for $150, which comes with two additional paid subscriptions for friends and family. Or if you’d prefer, you can send us a one-time donation. We are independent, and worker-owned, and can’t do this without you!

Also, a big thank you to everyone who filled out our survey. We appreciate you taking the time, and apologies for any technical issues you might have had with submitting it. We heard from a handful of readers that had trouble submitting the form. These surveys really help us at The Border Chronicle get a better idea of what is working for our podcast listeners and readers and what you all would like to see more of. For instance, we launched these Friday news roundups after the last survey results told us that readers wanted a summary of border news for the week and presto-change-o we made it happen.

What we learned from this survey is that you all are happy with the frequency of our postings, which are three times a week. This is good to know! A few readers said they’d like more explainer pieces about border policy, which is a great idea, and we’re also exploring how we could list community and cultural events, which many of you voted for. As a region-wide publication, we’re not yet sure what this would look like, or whether it would be too sprawling. But rest assured we are working on it. If you’ve got thoughts, input about how you think we’re doing or what we could do better. Please let us know, thanks!