In our inaugural episode of Behind the Beacon, we take listeners inside the Bucks County Beacon: how we began, why our work matters, and what it takes to keep rigorous local journalism alive. Released on April 9th, Local News Day, this conversation is our chance to pull back the curtain on the mission, the mechanics, and the momentum behind the Beacon. Hosts Emily Smith and Daralyse Lyons revisit the Beacon’s unlikely origins and its expansion from a simple idea to a newsroom reaching more than 35,000 readers each month. The Bucks County Beacon may be local, but our reporting has illuminated patterns unfolding across the country. Running a newsroom isn’t cheap or easy. Our operating costs sit between $25,000 and $30,000 a month, yet we remain free to readers because we believe access to trustworthy information shouldn’t depend on ability to pay. We share stories from community members who’ve told us that our reporting helped them understand issues shaping their lives and we talk about how we’re partnering with other organizations to expand our reach and dig deeper into stories that matter. As we say in the episode, “We are building the plane while we’re flying it.” Because at the end of the day, local news needs to be local, we’re committed to transparency and accountability, so join us in this episode of Behind the Beacon, where we take you behind the scenes and share about our internal operations, reader feedback, and exciting updates. If you value independent, community‑rooted journalism, you can support the Beacon at buckscountybeacon.com. Your contributions, your feedback, and your engagement keep our work alive.

Welcome back to the Civic Circle. We hope that everyone has been enjoying this beautiful spring weather. As we know, February was Black History Month and March is Women’s History Month. As we wrap up March, we thought it would be important to reflect and talk about why these are so important.

In the second part of the show, we talk with Mayah Lubin, who is a Senior Higher Access Coordinator at the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. Mayah is an incredible leader and her identity helps her shape her equally powerful work.

Sarah Zhang is a CB East grad and sophomore at UNC Chapel Hill.

Mallorie Marsin is a Council Rock South grad and freshman at Temple University.

Alexandra Coffey is a senior at CB West.

The Civic Circle is produced by the Bucks County Beacon and Raging Chicken Media’s Kevin Mahoney.

The music is “Bet On It” by Silent Partner, copyright and royalty-free.

Follow us on Twitter:

• @BucksCoBeacon
• @RCpress

A major topic of news in the past few months, and sure to be an even larger issue in this general election, is immigration policy and the border crisis in the South and spreading across the country. Particularly in right-wing circles, immigration has been in the news and all over social media, and we wanted to spend today talking about our perspective of what’s happened at the border.

This episode will tackle immigration policies under the Trump and Biden administrations, especially as it appears to be a rematch between these two candidates this November. We’ll also chat about sanctuary cities, which have received an influx of undocumented immigrants in recent months; public opinion on the border crisis; and the status of immigration policies in Pennsylvania.

Sarah Zhang is a CB East grad and sophomore at UNC Chapel Hill.

Mallorie Marsin is a Council Rock South grad and freshman at Temple University.

Alexandra Coffey is a senior at CB West.

The Civic Circle is produced by the Bucks County Beacon and Raging Chicken Media’s Kevin Mahoney.

The music is “Bet On It” by Silent Partner, copyright and royalty-free.

Follow us on Twitter:

• @BucksCoBeacon
• @RCpress