I'm happy to report that The Commons took first place this weekend in two categories in our division at the New England Press Association's annual Better Newspaper Contest in Boston.

We got the top prize in the biweekly/monthly division for General Excellence and for General News Story ("Racist acts grip region," July 2008).

It's exciting to see this professional affirmation of what we're doing in Brattleboro.

At the New England Press Association conference this weekend, I participated in a small "editor's roundtable" session. Numerous professionals from large newspaper chains spoke of the devastating budget cuts and the corporate debt that threaten the survival of their respective newspapers. Vermont Independent Media's nonprofit model is by no means a panacea, but we now find ourselves incredibly lucky not to be encumbered by some of the financial structures that strangle other newspapers.

As a result, The Commons is maturing into a solid and respected news voice -- one that makes its pages accessible to experienced journalists and eager novices alike. Vermont Independent Media complements that work with its Media Mentoring Project, which connects media professionals with their peers and those who want to learn important media skills. Many of the reporters you see in our pages are new to reporting and to journalism. We think that's fantastic.

And thanks to those of you who increasingly embrace the work we're doing, our circulation has risen 20 percent in the last few months. We now distribute 6,000 copies of the paper every month to every town in Windham County save one, which has no place for us to leave them.

Please take this announcement as less of a blowing-our-own-horn -- though we ARE proud of the many people, mostly volunteers, who have helped the paper grow to this point. Rather, I see our winning these awards as only one of many steps along a continuum to help The Commons become the news operation the entire community needs, one that will help readers interpret and learn about the area and our world during difficult times when we most need that understanding.

As always, we welcome your thoughts, both kind and frank, in the spirit of creating a fantastic newspaper that's YOUR newspaper. Please e-mail me at editor@commonsnews.org or you can call the office at 802-246-6397. Heck, call to chat if you're curious about the newspaper! I love to talk about what we're doing and would be happy to hear from you.

Finally, we provide The Commons free of charge as part of our mission, but it comes at significant cost -- a cost that's paid by a combination of your advertising support, generous foundation underwriting, and individual donations.

Of course times are tough, but if you value the type of journalism we provide and the work we're doing, even a small contribution helps significantly. Sorry to get all nonprofit-y on you, but that's what keeps us publishing.

All the best, and thanks again,

Jeff Potter
Editor, The Commons