Created in 2026 by Noelle Maxwell, the Decatur Independent is a news outlet serving Greensburg and Decatur County, Indiana. Our mission is to provide accurate, in-depth coverage where all citizens see themselves reflected and can access the information they need to live, work and be an engaged part of the community.

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About Noelle

Noelle is a freelance journalist and Greensburg native. She's served Greensburg and Decatur County for several years. She has previously worked for WTRE, the Batesville Leader, the Tree City Times and the Greensburg Daily News. She's also had articles published on the Indiana Capital Chronicle. Outside of her published work, Noelle is currently a member of the Investigative Reporters and Editors Association.

Why Pay for News?

Currently, the Decatur Independent is a for-profit newsroom and all of our revenue comes from subscriptions.

We try to provide as much information as we can for free - vital information about what is going on in our community. We've delivered in-depth coverage on topics other local newsrooms don't cover or don't go in-depth on, such as the community pool project, where we took the time to interview elected officials, or the protest against data centers in July 2026. The only information we've put behind a paywall so far have been feature stories such as our coverage of North Decatur's then-upcoming spring musical. That's it.

Unlike other local media outlets, we are local. I am local. I'm dropping the "we" for a moment: "we" are a one-person newsroom. I was raised in Greensburg, I went to school here, I've spent my adult life here, thus far. This is my home. I'm your neighbor. The issues you care about, the issues you're affected by, they're topics I care about and am affected by, too. Running this newsletter isn't free and if you've enjoyed, learned something or benefited from an article in the Independent, I would appreciate your support.

When I say "running this newsletter isn't free," here's the breakdown:

• Hosting - $65/year. Hosting means paying the platform we're based on, MagicPages, to provide us a user-friendly publishing platform (Ghost) and a domain name. We couldn't exist without paying for hosting.
• Articles of Organization - $95, filing for these makes the Independent an official business in the eyes of the State of Indiana. The Independent needed this to be fully legal and also so we can post on NextDoor and reach more of our community.
• Membership Dues - I try to keep these light, but, as a working journalist there are two organizations I'm personally involved in, both of which give me access to trainings, conferences and resources that help me improve my reporting: JAWS (https://www.jaws.org/) and the IRE (https://www.ire.org/) both organizations have dues of $75/year. I have also applied for LION (https://lionpublishers.com/) membership for the Independent as a business - LION is an organization that supports local, independent online newsrooms and I have been involved with them in the past for a previous project. I found them incredibly valuable and educational.
• Time - We have a reporter (hi, "reporter" here = Noelle, again) attending Greensburg City Council and Board of Works meetings in-person. Why? Because our reader survey results showed most of you wanted more city government coverage. I'm one person wearing all the hats: social media, tech support for subscribers who get stuck, marketing team, reporting, editing, proofing, layout, graphic design, logo creation - all of that is done by me. That feature story about a new local business you might read and love? That's a 30 minute to 1 hour interview with the business owner, another 30 minutes cleaning up a recording transcript and an hour or two drafting the article. Say 3 and half hours. That's just one story. I usually aim to have at least two stories per issue, ideally I want 3-5 per issue. Let's assume every story takes 3 and a half hours for the sake of example. At 3 articles per week, that would be 13 and a half hours of work, at 5 articles per week, it would be 22 and a half hours of work. That's just the process of interviewing one source, drafting, editing and proofing one simple article and getting it published.

I get it - times are hard, money is tight, the economy is not good. If you value knowing about the world around you, if you want to know what's happening in Decatur County, if you want to continue seeing a newsletter that is here for all of Decatur County, a newsletter that isn't a big corporation, a newsletter that isn't afraid to take on tougher topics, find a way to support.

You can make a one-time payment at any amount you're able to give here: https://decaturindependent.mymagic.page/#/portal/support or, if you're able, you can subscribe to the paid plan at $12/month.