The Story Behind The Applegater
32 Years of Telling the Applegate's Story
Mission
The Applegater is published by the Applegate Valley Community Newspaper, Inc. (AVCN), a nonprofit 501(c)(3) corporation. Our mission is to provide the Applegate watershed with a communication vehicle that offers educational information, increases community networking, and represents all of the area's diverse communities. Through honest, constructive, relevant, and entertaining coverage of our natural resources, historical and current events, and community news, we work together to enhance the quality of life we share in the Applegate.
History
The Applegater began in 1994, born out of a simple belief: that a rural valley deserves its own voice. What started as a modest community newsletter has grown into a full-color, 24-page quarterly newsmagazine with a circulation of 13,500 and a readership of more than 20,000 — reaching Jacksonville, Ruch, Applegate, Williams, Murphy, Wilderville, Wonder, Jerome Prairie, and surrounding areas of Medford and Grants Pass.
​
For over three decades, we have chronicled floods and fires, celebrated centenarians, published poetry, tracked the stars, and told the stories of the farmers, artists, ranchers, firefighters, teachers, and dreamers who live together in this valley. We have done it all with volunteer energy, reader support, and an unwavering love of this place.
We are the Applegate.
And so are you.
Transparency & Editorial Independence
Statement on Editorial Independence
​We subscribe to standards of editorial independence adopted by the Institute for Nonprofit News: Our organization retains full authority over editorial content to protect the best journalistic and business interests of our organization. We maintain a wall between news coverage decisions and sources of all revenue. Acceptance of financial support does not constitute implied or actual endorsement of donors or their products, services or opinions. We accept gifts, grants and sponsorships from individuals and organizations for the general support of our activities, but our news judgments are made independently and not on the basis of donor support. Our organization may consider donations to support the coverage of particular topics, but our organization maintains editorial control of the coverage. We will cede no right of review or influence of editorial content, nor of unauthorized distribution of editorial content. Our organization will make public all donors who give a total of $5,000 or more per year. We will accept anonymous donations for general support only if it is clear that sufficient safeguards have been put into place that the expenditure of that donation is made independently by our organization and in compliance with INN's Membership Standards.
Donor
Transparency
We are committed to transparency in every aspect of funding our organization. Accepting financial support does not mean we endorse donors or their products, services, or opinions. We accept gifts, grants, and sponsorships from individuals, organizations, and foundations to help with our general operations, coverage of specific topics, and special projects. As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that operates as a public trust, we do not pay certain taxes. We may receive funds from standard government programs offered to nonprofits or similar businesses. Our news judgments are made independently–not based on or influenced by donors or any revenue source. We do not give supporters the rights to assign, review, or edit content. We make public all revenue sources and donors who give $5,000 or more per year. As a news nonprofit, we avoid accepting charitable donations from anonymous sources, government entities, political parties, elected officials, or candidates seeking public office. We will not accept donations from sources who, deemed by our board of directors, present a conflict of interest with our work or compromise our independence.
