The Fate of Local Media?

April 2025 marks the fifth year of Trixie’s List, a weekly endeavor I undertook because I was frustrated and annoyed with my local media options. All I wanted was an answer to the question, “What can I do in Hudson this weekend – or next weekend?” without having to scroll and scrounge through multiple social media accounts and platforms. I wanted a website that was agnostic, not tied to the algorithms of major conglomerates, and written by an actual local (Hudson) person.

I was also frustrated with the political boundaries that would make it difficult for a website, financed by City of Hudson taxpayer dollars, to review a play in Chatham or a new restaurant in Catskill.

Today, I spend countless hours updating a website because I was somewhat annoyed five years ago.
Be careful what you ask for, Trixie.

I feel media in our society is currently in a Schrödinger’s cat dilemma of being both over-saturated and yet there’s not enough!

For instance, this week, I gazed with wonder and trepidation at the seemingly perilous hiking adventures of Peter Mai – a goofy Disney Prince-esque Austrian with ’80s moussed hair. He appears when scrolling on my feed (quelle surprise!) in multiple apps.

Meanwhile, also this week, I rummaged through the City of Hudson’s website, like I was at the estate sale of a deceased dowager, and buried under Home > Boards and Committees > Finance Committee of the Common Council > Documents > December 17, 2024, I found the report presented by the City’s Treasurer outlining, over the past five years, how the City’s budget has increased by approximately $1M/year. A direct url link was easier to post than an entire report, and as Chair of the City’s Finance Committee, I wanted to make sure the information was out there and people read it.

Peter Mai or Finance Report? Which is more important? Or more fun? Who doesn’t find pleasure in a good pie chart?

Also, on my instagram feed is a man with a (supposed) political science degree who muses about the state of national politics. His reels have hundred of thousands of views and likes, and he is now spewing much of the same “the government is an oligarchy” ideology Bernie Sanders has been spewing for decades. The guy on instagram happens to be more attractive than Bernie Sanders (although beauty is in the eye of the beholder, so I guess it’s debatable).

Anyway, I found myself typing the comment, “The revolution will not be on an instagram reel!” in this guy’s latest shirtless political rant.

Sorry, but major corporations are not going to allow their media platforms to be used for real change, as opposed to changing a reel.

You’re not going to get the latest, greatest, and freshest food from a major corporation’s factory farm hundreds of miles away. Similarly, with an oncoming shake-up of national and international media networks and “fact-checking” (or lack of), I predict a greater reliance on local media to give people the latest, greatest, and freshest information. Think of it as fresh and local food for your mind.

As I send out annual invoices to advertisers this week, I want to thank all of you for reading, and to the local businesses and individuals for their support. Thank you for helping local media, with our shoestring budgets, stay afloat.

Thank you.
Trix

PS – Seriously, read that finance report.