NEWBERG, Ore. — In 2023, we explored. In 2024, we established. In 2025, we grew.
And in 2026, we’ll sustain.
This past year will undoubtedly go down as a banner year for Newsberg, no matter what happens next. Over the course of 11 months, Newsberg published more than 290 stories about our local community, with a focus on engagement, education, and keeping readers informed about what was happening in town week in, week out.
Because of that commitment, we saw an incredible spike in readership, website traffic, and newsletter subscribers. For reference, in 2024, the Newsberg website saw just over 44,500 unique visitors from January through December.
In 2025, that number climbed to more than 128,000 — a 187% increase. We logged more than 227,000 total pageviews in 2025, compared with 68,900 in 2024, a 229% jump. And those newsletter subscribers? A 173% increase, from 1,400 to more than 3,800 as of today.
And one more stat that makes my little writing heart especially proud: The average visit duration in 2025 was 1 minute, 46 seconds, up from 54 seconds in 2024.
That means people aren’t just opening and scanning stories; they’re engaging with and actually reading the work we spend so much time researching, reporting, writing, editing, and publishing. With a larger audience, you’d normally expect that number to decrease, not increase. Thank you all for caring enough to take time out of your day to read these stories.
But here’s the thing: You and I both know this growth won’t last forever. We’re a town of just over 26,000 people with roughly 9,000 households, not including Dundee’s approximately 3,200 residents and 1,100 households. Growth will slow, we’ll stabilize, and that might be exactly what we need.
This year wasn’t just massive for Newsberg — it was massive for me, personally. I began treating this as my full-time job, or as close as a parent of two young children can manage, at the start of the year after closing my other business.
We launched the first-ever Newberg’s Favorites contest, highlighting the local businesses and organizations that put their heart and soul into this town.
And then on the personal side, we welcomed a new kiddo in August. I was also very honored to receive several awards and recognitions along the way, being listed as “Media that Matters” from Editor & Publisher magazine, and nominated as Community Member of the Year from LION Publishers. If we keep this trajectory, I may even be able to pay myself a small salary.
Newsberg was also accepted into Portico’s pilot program, ensuring our stories are securely archived digitally, and welcomed into the Association of Alternative Media (AAN) and Tiny News Collective. On top of that, Newsberg advocated for locally owned, independent media during the most recent legislative session and was featured in several student publications.
None of this would have been possible without you, dear reader. We saw another jump in monthly contributors this year, rising from 54 to 98, with a total of 180 contributors overall when combining monthly, annual, and one-time gifts.
That consistency matters in a major way. It helps inform my decisions about streamlining operations, investing in time-saving software, or hiring a contractor to help lighten my workload so I can focus on what matters most: reporting and recording local stories.
Plus, it still buys me the occasional cup of coffee.
I also need to thank the pioneer local advertisers who have been willing to put their funds on the line, so I don’t have to rely on my personal bank account to keep this going. I’m especially grateful to our top advertisers from 2025: Krohn’s Appliance, Chehalem Insurance Associates, John Laney Real Estate, Energy Trust of Oregon, Duck Pond Cellars, and Minthorn Mercantile.
In return, many of you have supported those businesses — and, just as importantly, told them you’re doing so because of Newsberg. That feedback is a big reason they’re ready to sign on for another year. Please keep doing that.
(And if you want to be one of those advertisers, send me an email and let’s make it happen.)
There is clearly an appetite in this community to support Newsberg, even if it doesn’t look like a traditional subscription. I wanted to find a way to give something back and make that decision easier. As a result, contributors can now receive a tax benefit through fiscal sponsorship with Tiny News Collective, a nonprofit dedicated to helping local, independent media outlets survive in a difficult landscape.
This opens the door for direct individual gifts, donor-advised funds, qualified charitable distributions, bequests, and more. It also allows Newsberg to pursue additional grants, much like the funding that helped support reporter Jules Rogers during the early months of my son’s life.
You also supported Newsberg in many other ways. Our contributor roster grew with sports reporter Austin Cracraft, and contributors Kyle Jordan, Eric McCarthy, Alyssa Bonnarens, and others. Brittany Long Olsen began publishing her weekly comic, Comic Diaries, with Newsberg. Photographer Scott Gaede covered several events to help expand our visual reporting. My former classmate Jules Rogers stepped in as a prolific reporter when I needed it most.
It’s been truly special to watch this community rally around what we’re building.
I could go on forever about my gratitude, but I’ll stop here to highlight some of the top stories of the year and offer a look ahead to 2026.
Read: Top Newsberg Stories from 2025—Reader and Editor’s Picks
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What’s Next for Newsberg: 2026
As mentioned earlier, the focus now is on sustainability. The product is strong. Our reach is growing organically. The next step is making this work financially (and personally) for the long haul.
I pushed hard this year to maintain the momentum coming out of 2024, when significant grant funding supported marketing, advertising, and operations. Those funds are now gone, which means I’m trapezing without a net.
Still, the past 11 months delivered valuable lessons. I’ve refined my tech stack, streamlined workflows, automated where possible, and identified where hiring will have the biggest operational impact. I’m also working through potential budget cuts to free up funds for a safety net or future hiring.
In the coming year, I plan to hire a full-time reporter to help cover the community while freeing me up to focus on growing the business. It’s a big step, but one that may align well with summer graduations and internship opportunities. I hope to tap into my former journalism school’s internship program, the Snowden Internship Program, to create a launchpad newsroom for young reporters. Doing that responsibly will require raising significant funds to ensure a livable wage.
I also hope to hire a contract business development representative who can help cover ground and reach out to potential advertisers who help keep this publication free for all. This position will have to be mostly commission-based due to funding constraints, but integral to the publication’s future success.
I’m also planning to launch a full print edition in early 2026.
“But Newsberg, why? Isn’t print dead?”
In fact, a growing body of data suggests communities like ours are returning to print as a way to connect locally. Add to that the rise of artificial intelligence and the fatigue many feel from social media and low-quality digital news sites that pretend to be news while actually serving as an advertising vehicle, and you’ve got people who crave real news and the real news format again.
Print offers a shared, distraction-free way to engage with local news, without pop-ups, notifications, or moving ads. I’m finalizing designs now, but the paper will likely be 11-by-17 inches and available by mail or local pickup. It also opens the door for additional, stable revenue by way of notices, subscriptions, and advertisements.
The legal-sized print editions I’ve distributed around town served as a test run, and I feel confident scaling up. We have the stories and the buy-in. Now it’s time to finalize the details and give it the ol’ college try.
We also hope to expand community-oriented programming. The walking tour we hosted this year was successful, though difficult to balance with a new baby and other commitments. I’m working on a partnership with a local historian to pair deeper historical context with the current events tour.
Newveau Fest was an absolute success, and we’re excited to bring it back. I’m also working with event manager Paige Jacobs to develop additional events, including a Newsberg Block Party, that can serve as fundraisers and community thank-yous.
Most of all, I look forward to continuing to research, learn, report, publish, and engage with this community. My focus for the coming year is controlled growth, a tight budget, and hiring the help needed to ensure long-term resiliency — so every dollar works hard to keep local news local.
If you want to support that mission, we’d love to have you. If Newsberg helped you stay informed, connected, entertained, or prepared this past year, I invite you to contribute (tax-deductible option for monthly and one-time donations). Your support — whether through a contribution or partnership — is an investment in reliable local information and ensures someone is always paying attention on our behalf.
Thank you for reading and for joining me on this journey. I wish you a wonderful New Year and look forward to serving our community again in 2026 and beyond.
Branden Andersen
Founding Editor, Newsberg
