While the nation’s politics are in free fall, the newspapers that cover them are experiencing record-setting gains in readership and subscriptions.

In a cover story in this month’s “Editor and Publisher,” newspaper managers across the country point to the big gains they’ve experienced in 2017. The New York Times added 276,000 subscribers in the last three months of 2016, more than all new subscribers added for 2013 and 2014 combined. In November 2016, the Los Angeles Times saw subscriptions jump by 450 percent over 2015. The web outfit PolitiFact began the year with a membership drive that netted $105,000 in 20 days, more money than the small site planned to raise in all of 2017.

The boom times, most editors agree, are the result of the Trump administration’s relentless attack on media outfits, from CNN and NBC to The New York Times and Buzzfeed. Trump’s attacks on the news media have been as successful as Florida lawmakers’ attempts to get people to stop listening to the mediocre 80s hip hop act 2 Live Crew: The more they protested the music, the more popular it became.

Though even that analogy is inapt. The growing interest in news media – and newspapers in particular – is not a simple act of rebellion. It’s the act of people feeling a renewed commitment to an institution that is certainly not free of faults, but has consistently done its best to bring people information they need. As the Washington Post’s new slogan puts it, “Democracy dies in darkness.” Newspapers, at their best, provide light.

At the Local, we’re not doing anything nearly as exciting as saving U.S. democracy from the powers of darkness, but we are doing our best to give people in Chestnut Hill, Mt. Airy, Wyndmoor, Whitemarsh and other surrounding neighborhoods the information they need. Whether its reporting on dog attacks in Pastorius Park or giving people a local forum to see the city’s candidates for District Attorney discuss the important issues facing that office, the Local does its best to provide more clarity and knowledge about where they live and what’s happening here.

It was gratifying recently to get the overwhelmingly positive feedback from those who attended the DA debate on March 23. It was equally satisfying to have our work recognized the next day after with six awards from the Pennsylvania News Media Association. We spend a lot of time thinking about how to improve what we do, so it’s nice to take a moment to realize what we already do has value.

Perhaps it’s because we haven’t been attacked as enemies of the people by the leader of the free world that we haven’t enjoyed the same show of support readers have shown The New York Times or even Politifact. We have seen our online traffic grow at an extraordinary rate every year, but it has not led to paid subscriptions – the life blood of any publication.

If you like the work we do here at the Chestnut Hill Local, subscribe. Or become a member of the Chestnut Hill Community Association, which also supports our community journalism. Visit chestnuthilllocal.com/subscribe/ or call 215-248-8813. We can’t continue our work without your support.

Pete Mazzaccaro