As this crisis continues to unfold, I want to update you, as one of our most loyal readers, about The Intercept’s priorities in covering the coronavirus.
It’s been said that the virus doesn’t discriminate, but politicians and CEOs continue to prioritize their own power and profits over the lives of the most vulnerable.
Over and over again these past few weeks, our reporters have uncovered government agencies and corporations taking deadly risks at others’ expense. The lives and health of prisoners and detainees, low-wage workers, and even health care providers are being endangered in a futile effort to preserve the status quo.
Much of the corporate media’s coverage of the pandemic echoes the reckless speculation by politicians and business leaders about when the economy can get back to “normal,” even as the ghastly implausibility of doing so becomes increasingly clear.
Right now, readers are turning to The Intercept to counter the dominant narrative with original reporting that investigates how the powerful are exploiting the crisis — and our reporting is having an impact.
The future of our nonprofit journalism depends on the generosity of our readers, but even under normal circumstances, fewer than 1% of readers give to support our work. And right now, even many of our most loyal readers can’t afford to donate.
So if you have the means to make a donation, we need your support today.
As my colleague Naomi Klein has written, this pandemic will either catapult us backwards to an even more brutal winner-takes-all system — or it will be a wake-up call to right what is wrong.
I know many readers share this sense of urgency, and it’s what drives our team forward in this challenging new reporting environment. The future of democracy, in the United States and around the world, could very well be decided by how we emerge from this pandemic.
The stories Intercept journalists tell now — about who lives and dies, and who amasses greater power and wealth along the way — have the potential not only to shape the election in November, but to reverberate politically for years to come.
I’ve worked in journalism for decades, and I’ve never seen a newsroom more alive with reporting ideas (even as we all work from home). Every day our editors make tough decisions about what to take on, knowing that right now there are far too many urgent stories going untold.
Your generous financial support will help make sure that no stone goes unturned:
