Significant changes for the South Berwick Reporter were announced last week at the free online new source’s third anniversary party.
Two more reporters have joined the volunteer staff of the Reporter at the same time the online media source is making progress toward forming an independent nonprofit organization, announced Karen Eger, president of its newly formed board of directors.
Launched in 2023, the Reporter has been a program of SoBo Central, the 10-member community nonprofit, until now. The Reporter has grown to the point it was ready to be an independent organization, Eger told the 40 or so people who attended the Feb. 27 event at the Spring Hill function hall.
Kathy Bousquet and Maggie Raymond, both of South Berwick, were introduced that evening as new volunteer reporters.
Raymond, an advocate for the commercial fishing industry before retiring in 2024, also is helping the organization raise funds to pay for insurance, technology and other expenses.
Bousquet, a retired elementary school teacher, will also be a board member of the new 501C-3 nonprofit organization.
Raymond and Bousquet are both attending a 12-week online course in journalism through Journalism New England, a nonprofit startup focused on supporting local news organizations. The Career Lab program is designed to train journalists and provide newsrooms with skilled staff.
Other board members announced include Mark Gagnon, Matt Ouelette and Greg Tuano, all of South Berwick, as well as editorial staff members Karen Eger, Amy Miller, Zelda Kenny, Noreen Biehl and Jesse Roman.
The South Berwick Reporter depends on sponsorships as well as individual donations to cover the $10,000 to $15,000 in annual expenses. The organization also is seeking a volunteer with a tech background to help for a few hours a month as an intermediary between the staff and the paid tech person who manages the webpage.
“We don’t have the knowledge or the language for those communications and are looking for someone who can translate our needs to the tech person,” said Eger.
The news source was recently accepted into the Institute for Nonprofit News, a national consortium of nonprofit journalism organizations that promotes nonprofit investigative and public service journalism.
In the past year, the Reporter published 200 stories while volunteers donated an estimated 2,700 hours in total, according to Eger.
The state approved the Reporter’s nonprofit status in 2025, and it is awaiting approval from the federal government.
