Local journalism is a vital tool for civic dialogue about our community, elected officials, social and racial justice, under-reported events, business activity, and accountability. Local journalism also celebrates the things that make our community great.
In 2020, we saw how important local journalism is to our community. COVID 19 created so many barriers to understanding the complexities of the pandemic, how we responded to the daily flood of information and making sense of it. A shocking amount of racial injustice came into focus and our local journalists were an integral player in shining a light on the events that took place locally as well as around our country. To celebrate the 20th Anniversary of Columbus Underground, CU and Staufs have created a special blend of coffee for sale at Grandview, German Village and online. $10 of each pound will go to CU to help sustain their independent journalism during these difficult times.
CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE THE 20TH ANNIVERSARY BLEND ONLINE
As a reminder, CU continues to win many journalism awards and the past year had many stories that I suspect will win a few more awards:
• Prior to any announcements on the removal of local Christopher Columbus statues, Columbus Underground was one of the first to begin the discussion around the icon’s representation here and whether or not it would be appropriate to remain in place.
• Columbus Underground was the first to extensively report on the new OSU Power Plant proposal that would controversially rely on fossil fuels.
• CU was the first to report on “Postal Deserts” in underserved communities like the Near East Side, which helped to spark the community action and conversation that lead to the reinstatement of service.
• Columbus Underground profiled dozens of Black-owned and minority-owned businesses in Central Ohio, including this new grocery project on the East Side.
• CU extensively covered Statehouse protests, petitions, causes, and calls for actions. One particularly unique/interesting piece was this one by staff writer Taijuan Moorman.
• Columbus Underground extensively covered small business restaurant and retail closures, openings, pivots, online/delivery options and industry trends that these local entrepreneurs struggled through in 2020 — This piece from staff writer Susan Post was a very thorough snapshot in December.
• Development news didn’t slow down in 2020, and CU staff writer Brent Warren took a dive into some data to continue to cover the housing affordability issue throughout the year, including this thoughtful piece.
Stauf’s has worked with Columbus Underground since they started their journey 20 years ago and we know their entire team to be open, honest, passionate about our community and of high integrity. Here’s to CU and 20 more years!
Mark Swanson
President, Stauf’s Coffee Roasters