The Daily Tar Heel is a news organization, and we don’t dodge the facts: We have two years to figure out our finances. In 2018, we will celebrate 125 years as the independent, nonprofit media lab for the University of North Carolina’s young journalists, advertisers and creative talent. We’ll do it in start-up mode, and in public. The Daily Tar Heel’s challenges are new to us, but they’re not unique. Community journalism — the act of putting questions to power, watchdogging, and sharing a community’s knowledge and stories — is a fundamental civic activity. It’s also expensive. Local news organizations across the world share the question of how to support this undertaking. This is where we’ll try to add our answers. The Daily Tar Heel, steeped in history but led by students, has always turned its face toward the future. The years ahead are no exception — and if you want to follow along as we try, fail, succeed and study our own systems and efforts to keep improving, watch this space.