News media are in need worldwide. (Photo: Andrys Stienstra via Pixabay)

Marc Levy launched Cambridge Day as an online news source in 2009 and has run it without pay. He can no longer do this, said a citizens group working with Cambridge Day.

The group, the Cambridge Local News Matters Advisory Board, has stepped up to raise funds to ensure the long-term survival of Cambridge Day. A jump-start of community contributions is needed now to bring in money that should make the site self-sustaining for years to come, the group said.

The board has launched a $75,000 crowdfunding campaign called “Throw local news a lifeline: Save Cambridge Day” to raise money. Among the goals is hiring writers and editors who will expand news coverage and recruiting a publisher and a board. The fundraising is not only to “save” Cambridge Day, but to help it take a leap forward in quality and comprehensiveness.

Since the Cambridge Chronicle eliminated its staff in 2022, Cambridge Day is the only local news source covering the city broadly, including news about schools, city meetings, neighbors in need, development, zoning, construction and events. Its archives include more than 10,600 articles dating back to 2005, when Cambridge Day arrived as a short-lived newspaper.

To get as fast a start as possible as funding grows, Cambridge Day welcomes contact from area journalists who want to write and edit; and residents of Cambridge and Somerville who want to get involved as advertising sales and design representatives with a focus on the cities’ small businesses.

Part of the group’s work is a survey exploring what residents would most like to read and learn about in their local news and what issues matter to them most. Members are sending the survey to neighborhood and business associations, and it’s available here.

The Cambridge Local News Matters Advisory Board includes Rick Harriman, former chair of the Cambridge Community Foundation and an innovation consultant; Kristen Wainwright, former literary agent and marketing and ad executive; Bob Simha, MIT’s director of planning for 40 years; Cathie Zusy, president of Magazine Beach Partners, former president of the Cambridge Club, and former museum curator; Susanne Beck, a journalist, former executive of a foundation and nonprofit and investment banker; and Mary McGrath, an award-winning public radio and podcast producer and a journalist for 30 years.

This post was written by Marc Levy with material from members of the Cambridge Local News Matters Advisory Board.