Point Reyes Books' New Year's Resolution, 2008

As a small independent business committed to fostering the literary and educational passions of our community, we have decided to join others in focusing our advertising dollars in 2008 in what has become an important new community asset, the West Marin Citizen.

The West Marin Citizen has revived the tradition of what a local newspaper should be. It is full of news about this place that is told straight without attitude or a desire to impress. It carries reports of meetings and events, which individually are not momentous, but collectively are the metabolism of our community life.

The Citizen shows respect for privacy and the sensibilities of those who live here. Like our community radio station, KWMR-FM, it includes a multitude of local voices and provides a window to the thoughts and lives of people we might see every day but never have a chance to talk with. Both the Citizen and KWMR-FM are produced almost entirely by local volunteers with a small dedicated staff.

In a locality without local government, the Citizen provides a forum that otherwise we would lack. How often have we read of something in the local paper and thought, "That's something I want to get involved in" or "That's something I need to find out more about?" It is like a big front porch that helps us to be neighbors instead of just people who live and work near one another.

This is something rare in America today, and precious. For most people in this country, the implicit message of the media that surrounds them is that they don't matter and their communities don't matter. As if everything that is truly important happens in New York City or Washington D.C.

Blessedly we have alternatives in West Marin, and they did not come about by accident. It is not easy work. The hours are long, and the remuneration low. At the start of this new year, we want to express our gratitude and support to the West Marin Citizen and everyone involved in it. This new paper has a place in our community and in our hearts. After six short months we can say without reservation that there would be a large void in West Marin without it.

~Steve Costa Kate Levinson