Today is Democracy Day, when our newsroom at The Baltimore Banner — and news organizations across the country — are coming together to highlight the need to protect our free press to ensure a healthy democracy.

Especially in an election year, there is no more important time to ensure people have access to trustworthy news to help them make informed decisions. Unfortunately, that is becoming more and more difficult because local journalism is under threat across the country.

Since 2005, nearly 2,900 newspapers in the United States have shut down. And the pace is increasing. The annual State of Local News Project by Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism found that, last year, 2.5 newspapers shut down each week, up from 2022.

In Maryland, the situation is more nuanced.

“There is a vibrant ecosystem of new and old outlets, including some feisty startups and strong, if challenged, outlets carrying on the tradition of the Black press,” University of Maryland journalism researchers wrote in their inaugural Maryland Local News Ecosystem Study released this year.

We’re proud to be among those feisty startups. After just two years of publishing, The Banner’s newsroom has grown to more than 80 journalists and we’re expanding to report more news across the Maryland region. We publish more than 100 news stories every week.

Today, as part of Democracy Day, we’re dropping the paywall on half a dozen recent stories that shed light on issues facing local and statewide voters:

• Q&A: Elections director says more poll workers are needed. Here’s how to become one.
• 4 things to know about the inspector general question on Howard County’s fall ballot
• How Maryland became the center of the nation’s Black political power
• Baltimore County is big and diverse. Its council is all male and very white.
• What’s the right council size? Baltimore and Baltimore County will decide
• In quest to shrink Baltimore council, it’s David Smith, not politics on the ballot
• How Maryland’s top Senate candidates say they would vote on 10 key issues
• Two Baltimore County councilmen take aim at plan to redraw district maps

If you like what you see, $1 gets you unlimited access to all our stories for the first six months. Your support helps us continue to do this important work.

Editor’s note: This article is part of U.S. Democracy Day, a nationwide collaborative on Sept. 15, the International Day of Democracy, in which news organizations cover how democracy works and the threats it faces. To learn more, visit usdemocracyday.org.