Amherst Indy Approaches 8,000 Articles Since 2019 Launch
The independent news site approaches 8,000 articles since launching in 2019 by combining local reporting with curated content from national sources.
The Amherst Indy, a locally based independent news site, is approaching a significant publishing milestone. The publication will post its 8,000th article next week, having launched on March 26, 2019. The outlet has built its readership through a mix of original local reporting and curated content from national and international sources.
Since inception, the Indy has published work by 505 unique writers and accumulated 10,221 published comments. The site now holds steady at about 7,000 engaged page views per week, measured by unique visits that result in opening an article or menu. The publication maintains 1,548 subscribers to its weekly email dispatch, though most readers access the site directly through its webpage.
The Indy supplements its own reporting with content from 17 publications that operate under Creative Commons licenses, allowing royalty-free republication. These sources include Al Jazeera, Common Dreams, CommonWealth Beacon, Democracy Now, ProPublica, Truthout, and others. Managing Editor Art Keene noted that this approach enables readers to connect local coverage to state, national, and global developments.
The publication organizes content weekly in a magazine format. Most new material posts on weekdays, with the bulk arriving Thursday and Friday. The site reorganizes content into a predictable news magazine layout on Friday nights, then emails a digest to subscribers at 6 a.m. Saturday. Within each issue, town government and school news appear at the front, followed by resources, local events, opinion pieces, and features like photo essays and columns.
The Indy maintains an archive of over eight years of local news coverage. Readers can search by author, use one of more than 400 subject tags to locate articles chronologically, or browse the date-organized archive in the right-hand column of any page.
The outlet is currently seeking new writers to contribute to its community journalism effort. Recent additions to the reporting team include Ben Polletta.