[News] Tampa Bay Times launches weeklong fundraising campaign to help sustain local news

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From front row left, Tampa Bay Times reporters, Rebecca Woolington, Eli Murrray and Corey C.Johnson celebrate with newsroom staff and guests as Times editor and vice president, Mark Katches talks about the trio winning the 2022 Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Reporting earlier this month. The newsroom estimated the project cost about $750,000 to produce.

 

Since 2019, more than 5,700 people have made donations to support our local news reporting. Most came from Tampa Bay Times subscribers who recognize the vital importance of preserving an independent and locally owned news organization.

Your generosity means the world to us.

Economic headwinds remain for local newsrooms across the country, and philanthropy is becoming an important source of revenue.

This week, we’ve launched our annual weeklong fundraising drive to help sustain your local newsroom. We held a similar one last year for the first time.

The need is clear. The Times celebrated its 14th Pulitzer Prize earlier this month for an exhaustive investigation that showed how factory employees were being exposed to extreme levels of poisons in their workplace. That project alone cost about $750,000 to produce. It’s the second year in a row that Times reporters have won journalism’s most prestigious prize for a local investigation.

These stories represent just one facet of what makes our news organization a community asset. We commit ourselves to informing you about local government, businesses, schools, politics and the overall health of Tampa Bay. We provide blanket coverage of your favorite sports teams and the local food and entertainment scene.

In all aspects of our news coverage, we strive to tell stories that matter and that can make a difference. Your support can make a difference, too.

To contribute, go to www.tampabay.com/support. The goal is to raise $50,000 in a week. The funds go toward general news expenses and could be used any number of ways. It would cover the salary of a reporter for a year; or it would pay the annual newsroom costs to obtain documents and databases needed for more watchdog stories; or it would help replace aging photography equipment. We pledge to use your donations to serve you — our readers.

And we appreciate your consideration of a gift of any size that will help the Times continue to thrive.

https://www.tampabay.com/news/2022/05/23/tampa-bay-times-launches-weeklong-fundraising-campaign-to-help-sustain-local-news/