Before anything else, all of us send a huge shoutout to the Tillamook Headlight Herald for opening their incredible office area to us. They join a list of coastal newspapers who have provided more support than we would have thought possible. You can check them out at:

http://www.tillamookheadlightherald.com/

A coastal weekly newspaper stands at the center of our project, but these papers are more than a dramatic device for us. All of us believe passionately in their vital role for their local communities and for journalism in general.
A while ago, someone said that putting a coastal weekly as the pivot of this project and, hopefully, the resulting series was a bad idea. “Isn’t that outdated?” the person asked. “Are any of them even left?” One of the points of Coastal Disturbances is to answer no and yes, in that order. And we think it’s a good thing that they’re still around. Their tenacity is one of the remaining antidotes to cheap, biased, blog-fed snark and misinformation that passes itself off for news. Often, they slug it out against increasing financial pressures and diminishing returns, to keep local voices, regional cultures, and communities vibrant and distinctive.
We’re all better off because they do.