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Applause to the team at the Harpswell Anchor, for choosing to bring back local news, but the 501(c)(3) model is not as beneficial as it may, at first glance, appear. There are intricate rules governing what can and cannot be published under 501(c)(3) "educational" rules. Additionally, although subscription revenue is non-taxed, advertising revenue is subject to unrelated income tax, which cannot be offset against publication costs. This translates into higher, not lower, operating expense.

Their second mistake is publishing monthly. I can recite the names of several excellent community monthlies I have known over the last several decades, not including the Cascade Park Courier, which I owned and operated for two years, and all of them failed. The reason is that most of the costs of going to press are fixed costs, such as staff and rent, which are more easily handled by spreading them over four weekly editions, rather than one monthly edition.