Enjoy reading Fresno restaurant news? Here’s why we need your help to keep it coming
Want to hear about one of the most amusing parts of my job covering restaurants and retail in the Fresno area for The Bee?
Picture me, standing outside a construction site — usually balancing on a pile of dirt in my dress shoes — and shouting through a chain-link at a construction worker.
“Excuse me! Whatcha building?”
If I get a friendly one (and I almost always do) they tell me, I make a phone call to confirm and then I’ve got the next big story about a new restaurant or retailer opening in Fresno.
There’s a lot of other ways it happens, too — I once called a developer nine times just to get one story.
My point is to give you a glimpse into the work it takes to bring you stories about new restaurants and stores opening and closing.
I’m the only journalist in this town dedicated full time to covering restaurants and retail. I’ve been a reporter for more than 20 years, with eight of it spent keeping tabs on the Fresno restaurant scene and 15 years covering retail.
And it’s why if you enjoy reading these stories, subscribe to The Bee.
See, journalism isn’t free. I’m not getting rich off my paycheck from The Bee, but it does help pay to feed my family and my mortgage. And subscriptions keep the local news coming.
The days when print ads paid the majority of the cost of running a newspaper are gone. Living in a digital age, we rely on readers like you to subscribe and fund this journalism.
Just as the restaurants I write about are taking a hit during coronavirus, so too is the newspaper business. The businesses we rely on for advertising income aren’t advertising as much because they’re also hurting.
And an online-only subscription isn’t expensive: Our latest deal is 99 cents for each of the first two months and $15.99 a month thereafter.
Some people in tough financial situations can’t afford that right now, and that’s understandable. But if you can afford it, it’s not a big price for pay for breaking news, keeping an eye on city hall, and multiple other beats our reporters cover.
The cool thing is, when you subscribe, you’re not only supporting restaurant news, but also impactful journalism by other reporters at The Bee.
Like my colleague Isabel Sophia Dieppa and her recent story about low-income families struggling with affordable internet access while schooling their kids at home during COVID-19. Hours after her story published, Comcast said it would double broadband speeds for families for no extra fee.
Subscriptions also pay for the reporting that’s not as fun as visiting construction sites. That includes investigative work like digging through city records, calling sources who I’ve had relationships with for years, and following up on endless rumors that sometimes turn into news.
So if you like the news I provide — and local Fresno Bee reporters write — subscribe here.
Bethany Clough covers restaurants and retail for The Fresno Bee. A reporter for more than 20 years, she now works to answer readers’ questions about business openings, closings and other business news. She has a degree in journalism from Syracuse University and her last name is pronounced Cluff.
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This story was originally published February 26, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
