I'm heading to Kansas and need your help!

Hello! I’m here with a bit of news + a call for support!

Nearly one year ago, police in the town of Marion, Kansas raided the offices of the local newspaper, the home of the paper’s owner and the home of the vice mayor. Because of law enforcement’s gross overreach, suddenly the town of 1,922 people became front page, primetime, network news. And it very well may have been how you found yourself reading The Handbasket.

On August 12, 2023, the day after the Marion County Record had its offices stormed by cops, its equipment confiscated, its staff accosted, and its publisher Eric Meyer’s home similarly violated, I published an interview with Meyer in which I broke a key piece of news: The paper had been investigating Police Chief Gideon Cody over allegations that he’d been demoted from his prior job as a result of sexual misconduct complaints. In the days and weeks that followed, I kept up with the story, even as it faded from national view. My reporting was cited by The Washington Post and the Columbia Journalism Review, among others.

So, why am I telling you all this? Well, it’s because I’m heading to Marion next week for a reporting trip where I’ll be working on a few different stories about the local aftermath of the raid and the national impact on press freedom. I’ll be working in partnership with the Kansas Reflector, the nonprofit newsroom that first broke the story of the raids. Editor-in-Chief Sherman Smith and I will be spending time with Eric Meyer, newspaper staffers, and other locals whose lives were changed forever by the raids. 

And this is where you come in: This is the first time I’m taking a major reporting trip without a corporate finance department to submit an expense report for reimbursement. As an independent journalist, I almost exclusively count on premium subscriptions to financially support my work-related travel, and a trip of this scope requires a good deal of it. 

If you’re already a premium subscriber, A) THANK YOU! and B) You can securely lend additional financial support via Venmo or Ko-fi. Help pay for my air travel or an XL iced coffee on the road in Kansas. (I hear it’s very hot there right now.)

If you’re not yet a premium subscriber, become one! Help me continue to produce quality journalism without corporate influence, and to fight back against the forces trying to silence media outlets critical of power—like the Marion County Record. And if you can’t make that commitment, a few dollars on Venmo or Ko-fi will go a long way! (See: iced coffee.)

I can’t wait to share the stories I get from the road. Thanks for reading and for supporting a free press.

With gratitude,

Marisa