As the editor-in-chief of The Intercept, I want to give you a personal update on our financial situation.
The unapologetic, adversarial journalism you find at The Intercept is a rare breed — and becoming scarcer by the day. Between layoffs of experienced reporters, advertising declines, and intense pressure to maximize clicks, we’re living through the quiet suffocation of the kind of journalism our democracy requires.
The Intercept been able to survive because we started with a strong base of financial support, and we’ve grown by asking our readers to sustain our work — and so many of you have responded with a deep commitment to journalism’s future, a deep commitment to exposing the truth about those in power who subvert our democracy.
Right now we’re in the midst of a special midyear fundraising campaign with a goal of raising $400,000 from thousands of our readers. We have two days left, and we still need to raise $130,000.
If you’ve saved your payment information with ActBlue Express, your donation will go through immediately:
By the time President Donald Trump left office, more than 70,000 people had donated to become members of The Intercept. But across the media and progressive politics, donations and reader interest have declined sharply — and The Intercept is no exception.
You and I know that the need for our adversarial reporting has not lessened with President Joe Biden in office. The Intercept is one of the few outlets shining light on how Biden’s long record of advancing imperial wars has continued into the early months of his administration: We recently exposed how Biden has filled top Pentagon positions with profiteering defense contractors and has continued to facilitate impunity for Israeli war crimes.
The Intercept was fortunate to launch with major support from an individual donor who believes in our mission and who has always respected our editorial independence. But no journalism outlet can be entirely dependent on a single funder.
Our goal for this campaign is an ambitious one – but it’s what we need to sustain our budget for the in-depth investigations we have planned for the second half of 2021: Exposing corporate cover-ups of toxic chemicals poisoning communities, U.S. support for brutal regimes and paramilitary forces throughout the world, extremist networks behind the January 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, the way corporations and the rich buy off politicians of both parties in Washington, D.C., and so much more.
Reaching our goal won’t be easy, but in this line of work, we’re used to facing a challenge, giving it all we’ve got, and beating the odds.
