More and more news organizations will realize that, to survive, they need to ask their audiences for money. Whether it’s a membership program with exclusive benefits or crowdfunding campaigns for specific reporting projects, the people who value good journalism must be asked to help pay for it.

News organizations spend so much time telling everyone else’s stories that we forget to tell our own. What’s our mission? How are we funded? What if we ceased to exist? We need to get comfortable talking about ourselves and asking people to help fund the crucial service we provide.