Hey Cleveland,

A few days ago, I asked you one simple question:
What’s the Cleveland story no one’s telling?

The responses blew us away.

Hundreds of messages came in: thoughtful and insightful.

You Told Us the Truth

Neighborhoods that are overlooked.

Small businesses fighting on amid economic worries.

How a little radio station tells a bigger about unfairness.

Young generations priced out of homes.

And reading every one of those emails reminded me why The Scoop exists

From the beginning, our mission has been to focus on stories no one else is telling

about Cleveland and Clevelanders.

When I first joined The 216 Scoop, the focus was on concerts and events.

But as it grew, something started to shift.

It became more than a calendar — it became a community.

Over the past year, this little side project has turned into something much bigger – a source for news that people read, respond to and care about.

Now, we want to take that energy and do something even more meaningful with it.

We want to expand on the types of stories you just told us about - the ones people care about, but the media often ignores.

But here’s the thing: Good local reporting takes time, resources, and people who know and love this city.

First, we’d like to thank all our readers. It’s been quite a year, one in which we have grown subscribers and received some feedback from you that value greatly. Our ‘open rates’ are three times that average for local newsletters – which means we’re connecting with one another.

From the beginning, the mandate for The 216 Scoop has been to provide a variety of stories that focus on Cleveland and Clevelanders.

We’re overwhelmed with the response – and we’re looking to improve and expand as we head into 2026.

More staff. More and better content. Special-edition newsletters that go deeper.

To get there, we’re launching a community campaign and we’re inviting you to be part of The 216 Insider.

For $9 a month, or $49 a year as a Founding Member (50% off, locked for life), you’ll get:

Thank you for reading, for caring, and for believing in what we’re building.

John Petkovic
Writer & Editor, The 216 Scoop
on behalf of our entire team