The president-elect has shown he has no respect for the press and its role to bear witness and hold the powerful accountable. He banned major news outlets, including Univision and the Washington Post, from his events and called the media “lying,” “disgusting” and “rigged.”
Without the press, we would know very little about Donald Trump. Without a local press, a community knows little about what is happening in the city’s corridors of power, is unaware of the machinations of the local economy, crime trends or community happenings. In the past months, Berkeleyside published 159 stories about the local election.
Berkeleyside is trying something that has never been tried before: asking our readers to become our shareholders. The only requirement is being a California resident. As a founding investor, you will help ensure your award-winning local source of news for Berkeley thrives long term.
Visit invest.berkeleyside.com to learn more and invest.
If there’s a place that understands the importance of a free press, it’s Berkeley. After just a few weeks, we are already over a quarter of the way to reaching our capital-raising goal of $800,000. If just 600 of our readers invest in the next six weeks at the minimum $1,000 level, we will reach our goal by year-end.
Ask yourself: Where other than Berkeleyside could you have read such detailed, informed coverage of the Berkeley election to help you decipher how to vote? Where would you have read about our city’s mail delivery problems, the need for a new bike lane after a near-fatal crash, or a deer jumping into the King pool during a kids’ swimming lesson.
And when half of Berkeley High walked out of school Wednesday to protest the election results, Berkeleyside had reporters right there, from the BHS courtyard to the steps of UC Berkeley’s Campanile. Our tiny team has been out on the streets of Berkeley for two days and nights running. (And our Facebook Live film of the BHS protest has reached an astonishing 610,000 people.)
If there’s a time to support independent journalism it’s now: Consider becoming a founding investor in Berkeleyside or, alternatively, become a member with a monthly or one-time contribution, big or small. Or support another publication you value.
The small Berkeleyside team loves covering our complex, fascinating city. We’re eager to do more. We hope you’ll support Berkeleyside by investing today.
Learn more about how a direct public offering works and sign up to become a founding investor at Invest.Berkeleyside.com. Or contact us directly at invest@berkeleyside.com or by phone at 510-671-0380.
