Peaceful protesters demonstrate against a planned appearance by alt-right provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos on the UC Berkeley campus on Feb. 1, 2017. Photo: Melati Citrawireja

I just came back from two weeks in England visiting family. I always read Berkeleyside with a new perspective when I’m out of the country, and here’s what I observed this time: our tiny editorial team covered two weeks of intense news with high-quality reporting that stood in stark contrast to much of the click-bait headlines, lightweight stories, and fake news that are all too prevalent today.

Become a founding investor in Berkeleyside.

In those 14 days, Berkeleyside brought you an astonishing 62 articles. Highlights included:

  • The exclusive story on the ‘Russian’ prankster who organized a fake anti-Trump protest at UC Berkeley.
  • Seven stories on the Berkeley couple and their cats who died of carbon-monoxide poisoning at their home.
  • Ten stories (and counting) on the protests over far-right provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos that agitators disrupted with violence and vandalism.

Our Russian hacker story got picked up by Samantha Bee for her ‘Full Frontal’ TV show, and we have also had to deal with an onslaught of comments from right-wing trolls. But the depth of our coverage, especially around the controversial Yiannopoulos protests, was appreciated by readers. As one put it:

“You take the time to do more research and report the real story. Keep doing what you’re doing — we need more journalists like you, now more than ever.”

You can help us continue our mission to break news and build community by investing in Berkeleyside through our direct public offering. To our knowledge, no other news organization has pioneered this model in which we are inviting our readers to become shareholders. We aim to raise $800,000 by March 31 — capital we will invest directly in Berkeleyside. Already, since November, 177 readers have invested nearly $500,000 for which we are supremely grateful. We are over 60% of the way there! There are perks as well as benefits for investors.

In the age of ‘alternative facts,’ and when our President sees the media as the enemy, Berkeleyside will continue to break news, question authority, hold our city’s officials accountable, and deep-dive into issues that affect us all.

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, tel. 510-671 0380.

Tracey
Tracey Taylor, Co-Founder and Managing Editor, Berkeleyside

This is not an offer to sell any securities. Offers to sell are made only pursuant to authorized offering materials. The offering is limited to California residents that meet certain suitability requirements. You must verify that you are a California resident in order to receive the authorized offering materials, and you must verify that you meet the suitability requirements in order to subscribe for the securities. 

Tracey Taylor is co-founder of Berkeleyside and co-founder and editorial director of Cityside, the nonprofit parent to Berkeleyside and The Oaklandside. Before launching Berkeleyside, Tracey wrote for...