How the Ledger makes money
Standing rules; changes are logged on the corrections pageThe Ledger is free to read and always will be. It pays for itself with sponsors who buy space next to the record, members who choose to pay for something they could get free, and a listings directory. None of them buys a word of what the Ledger reports.
Sponsors buy adjacency, never content
A sponsor gets a labeled slot in the daily edition and on the site for a set period. The slot says "Sponsor." The Ledger's reporting does not mention a sponsor's listings, products or events unless they appear in the public record on their own, and the tax calculator, the calendar and every data series work the same whether or not anyone sponsors them. No sponsor sees an edition before readers do.
The list is never sold or shared
Subscriber emails go to the Ledger's sending platform and nowhere else. Sponsors get reach, not readers: the Ledger reports how many people opened an edition, never who. The subscribe form asks for an email and, optionally, a ZIP code and what you want tracked. It does not ask whether you are buying or selling anything.
Real estate is reported as record
Plats, rezonings, permits, tax rates, water restrictions and impact fees are reported from the documents whether or not they flatter the market. Realtors, builders, lenders and title companies are welcome sponsors, and they get the same rules as everyone else.
No single category owns an edition
An edition carries at most one sponsor from any one line of business, so no day reads as one industry's newsletter.
No candidate can buy anything
The Ledger does not sell space to candidates, campaigns, political committees or ballot-measure groups, in any season.
Members are a floor, not a business
Founding members pay because they want the Ledger to exist. Membership buys no access, no influence and no early look; members are thanked by name only if they ask to be.
Ownership is in the masthead
The Aledo Ledger is independently owned by its publisher, who lives in the Aledo area and whose family has business interests here, including real estate marketing and early-childhood education. Any entry that touches those interests carries a note saying so. Sponsors never see a story before it runs and never decide what runs.
Questions about any of this go to sponsors@aledoledger.com. Rates are on the sponsor page; the accuracy rules the newsroom works under are on the about page.