Programs

  • Program 1 [2020]

    The San Francisco Public Press (sfpublicpress.org) is a nonprofit, noncommercial news organization that produces independent public-interest journalism about under-covered topics, with a focus on under-served audiences. Our team-reporting methods, quarterly print newspaper and low-power FM radio station, KSFP-LP on 102.5 FM (sfpublicpress.org/ksfp), have attracted attention as a model for a nonprofit news organization that can be replicated in other communities. As other local news initiatives have come and gone, the Public Press has distinguished itself as dedicated investigative reporting outlet. Our ad-free newspaper and website highlight our best new in-depth, data-driven investigative, explanatory and solutions reporting. For every local election, we produce a comprehensive nonpartisan voter guide. In early 2020, we published "Ride-Hailing's Dark Data," a months-long investigation revealing that the California Public Utilities Commission - the agency charged with regulating the state's ride-hailing firms - has kept reports on thousands of accidents involving Uber and Lyft under wraps. (See: sfpublicpress.org/series/ride-hailings-dark-data/) In 2020, "Civic," our half-hour local public policy interview podcast and radio show, covered a wide array of topics, including public health during the COVID-19 pandemic, essential workers, elections, government accountability, public transit equity, the racial justice protest movement, immigration, public safety and the environment. (See: sfpublicpress.org/civic) The pandemic pushed us to rethink our editorial approach. We continued with investigative reporting, but circumstances required that our newsroom cover local aspects of the pandemic. Our audience was hungry for local news about this fast-changing global story - we knew this from spikes in traffic to our website - and it was our responsibility to keep delivering it. Our "Civic" episodes became a key outlet for examining how the pandemic was affecting all aspects of life. We produced a series of episodes on essential workers and explored how artists and arts organizations were reaching their audiences through online events, podcasts and other channels they had not previously explored. (See: sfpublicpress.org/series/essential-workers/). We focused on areas where we have expertise, for example, homelessness and housing access. To sustain publishing frequently online, we hired more freelancers to supplement coverage by staff reporters. In December 2020, we hired one of those reporters, Nuala Bishari, on a half-time six-month contract. Nuala continued to report on how San Francisco was addressing the needs of homeless residents during the pandemic and turned her expertise on this topic into a proposal we endorsed in her successful application for a ProPublica Local Reporting Network Fellowship. We are delighted to have her working with us full-time now with her salary covered by ProPublica through March 2022. We paused our print edition in the spring of 2020 due to pandemic production and distribution challenges. We look forward to relaunching our print edition in 2022.
    Geographies
    Not indicated
    Dates
    Jan 1, 2020 – Dec 31, 2020
    Source
    990
    No causes provided
    No populations provided
    –
    $675.6K

  • Independent Public-Interest Journalism

    The San Francisco Public Press (sfpublicpress.org) is a nonprofit, noncommercial news organization that produces independent public-interest journalism about under-covered topics, with a focus on under-served audiences. Online and on community radio station KSFP 102.5 FM, we offer local investigative and solutions reporting. Coverage areas include environmental protection, housing affordability, public health, transportation safety, homeless services, digital privacy, immigration and elections. For every local election, we produce a comprehensive, multimedia nonpartisan voter guide. (See our November 2022 guide here: https://www.sfpublicpress.org/november-2022-sf-election-guide/) In 2022, "Civic," our local public policy interview podcast and radio show, produced a smaller number of episodes as we transitioned to a new model involving more in-depth reporting and highly produced episodes. For "Civic," Laura Wenus and Sylvie Sturm conducted original reporting on a range of topics and also built episodes around reporting by other journalists in our newsroom. Other reporters also contributed occasional episodes. (See: https://www.sfpublicpress.org/civic) In February and March, we published two investigations by reporter Nuala Bishari as the culmination of her one-year ProPublica Local Reporting Network Fellowship, through which she investigated San Francisco's methods for getting people out of tents or other short-term shelter and into permanent supportive housing. Her two-part investigative project that was co-published by the Public Press and ProPublica in 2022. (See: https://www.sfpublicpress.org/series/left-out) Throughout 2022, many of our reporters cover issues related to homelessness and housing insecurity. Noah Arroyo and Madison Alvarado reported on how the city and advocacy groups were helping people who might lose their housing as pandemic eviction protections expired. (See a few examples: https://www.sfpublicpress.org/state-not-on-track-to-pay-most-sf-rent-assistance-before-eviction-protections-expire/, https://www.sfpublicpress.org/california-extends-eviction-protections-for-some-kills-local-protections/, https://www.sfpublicpress.org/tens-of-thousands-vulnerable-to-eviction-as-california-protections-poised-to-end/, https://www.sfpublicpress.org/as-statewide-eviction-protections-expire-sf-measure-kicks-in/). Yesica Prado and Jenny Kwon examined fire incident data and reported on the increase in fires at encampments of unhoused people. (See: https://www.sfpublicpress.org/sf-fires-linked-to-homeless-surged-as-pandemic-set-in/) Prado spoke with people employing a grassroots approach to fire prevention in their communities. (https://www.sfpublicpress.org/grassroots-nonprofits-and-homeless-communities-create-their-own-fire-prevention-solutions/). Later in the year, in "'Everything Is Gone, and You Become More Lost': 12 Hours of Chaos as Berkeley Clears Encampment," Prado produced a comprehensive report and photo essay documenting what it's like for people who don't have control over the place where they live. Prado spent 12 hours documenting this episode in which a vulnerable group had their lives thrown into chaos through deliberate action of local government agencies. (See: https://www.sfpublicpress.org/everything-is-gone-and-you-become-more-lost-12-hours-of-chaos-as-berkeley-clears-encampment/) In a three-part series, Viji Sundaram investigated the inconsistent application of a California law enacted in 2021 that allows domestic violence victims to claim coercive control - a broad range of behaviors including humiliation, surveillance, intimidation, gaslighting and isolation that strips an intimate partner of a sense of autonomy and personhood. (See: https://www.sfpublicpress.org/how-californias-coercive-control-law-could-help-women-manipulated-by-partners/, https://www.sfpublicpress.org/expanding-view-of-domestic-violence-gives-survivors-new-tool-but-unsympathetic-judges-remain-an-obstacle/, and https://www.sfpublicpress.org/i-was-not-allowed-to-have-my-own-thoughts-california-courts-start-penalizing-psychological-domestic-abuse/). Seth Rosenfeld followed up on his previous Public Press investigation of California's regulation of the ride-hailing industry with ongoing coverage of the California Public Utilities Commission. (See: https://www.sfpublicpress.org/utilities-agency-admits-more-problems-in-tracking-ride-hailing-assaults/, https://www.sfpublicpress.org/how-california-utilities-commission-undermines-the-public-records-act/, https://www.sfpublicpress.org/court-says-california-utilities-commission-must-obey-state-public-records-act/, https://www.sfpublicpress.org/uber-lyft-must-adopt-measures-to-prevent-sexual-assaults-california-regulator-rules/) In the summer, we hosted Columbia-INN Reporting Fellow Camellia Burris (See: https://www.sfpublicpress.org/would-tax-on-vacant-homes-push-owners-to-lease-empty-sf-units/) and Dow Jones News Fund Fellow Jordyn Gleaton, who worked on data analysis and graphics (See: https://www.sfpublicpress.org/california-indian-tribes-denied-resources-for-decades-as-federal-acknowledgement-lags/). For additional reporting by the San Francisco Public Press, please visit our website at sfpublicpress.org.
    Geographies
    Not indicated
    Dates
    Jan 1, 2022 – Dec 31, 2022
    Source
    990
    No causes provided
    No populations provided
    –
    $410.2K

  • Fiscal Sponsorship for Mission Local

    The San Francisco Public Press served as fiscal sponsor for Mission Local. The following details are repeated on Schedule I, Part I, Line 2: We monitored the use of grant funds by Mission Local through regular conversations - at least monthly - with Lydia Chavez, executive director of Mission Local. All grants and donations received by the Public Press and distributed to Mission Local in 2022 were used to pay staff salaries and freelance journalists. In 2018 we began fiscally sponsoring Mission Local, a news organization focusing on San Francisco's Mission District. Mission Local's journalistic work is in a similar educational vein as the Public Press's and is aligned with our charitable purpose. Mission Local, a legally incorporated entity, filed for and received its own 501c3 in late 2022, after which the organization began receiving and managing its own grants and donations directly.
    Geographies
    Not indicated
    Dates
    Jan 1, 2022 – Dec 31, 2022
    Source
    990
    No causes provided
    No populations provided
    –
    $362.5K