If you’re satisfied with how corporate-owned politicians and media outlets are responding to the pandemic, you can go ahead and delete this email. But if you believe this moment demands bold independent journalism, please read on for an important announcement.
The Intercept was founded on a commitment to tackling difficult stories that expose the corrupt inner workings of political and corporate power. In this bleak moment, we are seeing the life and death consequences of that corruption.
Right now our journalists are racing to report stories that would otherwise go untold — revealing who is exploiting the pandemic for profit, who is dying as a result, and how the virus is exacerbating the social and political crises that we were covering before the pandemic hit.
Because The Intercept is a nonprofit supported by readers, the collapse in advertising that has forced other media companies to make dramatic cuts hasn’t slowed us down. In fact, we’ve launched new video series, contracted more freelance writers, and seen a surge in our web traffic.
But this growth comes with increased costs and that means we need more readers to step up and become members. That’s why we’ve set an unprecedented goal of raising $500,000 this month.
To be frank, it’s an ambitious target — almost double what readers donated last month. But reaching it will enable us to continue expanding our coverage. Can you chip in?
The kind of reporting we do is essential to democracy, but it is not easy, cheap, or profitable. There are no corporate advertisers clamoring for more stories about Silicon Valley’s dystopian surveillance schemes or backroom deals done on Capitol Hill to reward the 1 percent for their campaign contributions.
The Intercept’s journalism has found a growing audience amid this crisis because so many of us are yearning for dramatic changes to a deadly unequal status quo. But the pandemic has also brought significant additional expenses:
- Personal protective equipment, like masks, gloves, and hand sanitizer, for reporters who need to leave their homes to do reporting.
- Contracting freelance journalists across the country and beyond our borders who bring fresh and challenging perspectives that are missing from the media landscape.
- Setting up our team with equipment to work from home, including tools for recording and editing podcasts and videos.
So far we’ve been able to cover these expenses without missing a beat. But even under normal circumstances, fewer than 1 percent of readers donate to support our work — and we’re hearing from an increasing number of monthly donors who’ve had to cancel their support.
