LAist Is Facing A Financial Crisis. We Need Your Help

Hi, everybody -- it's Lisa Brenner, LAist Associate Editor. I'm writing to you live and direct from the newsroom (which is less of a physical location and more of a state-of-mind these days). We have a situation.

For weeks and weeks -- which have felt like years and years -- we've been working at a supersonic pace to bring you fresh, accurate, critical reporting about the coronavirus pandemic in Los Angeles. You've asked us thousands of questions and we found you answers with the help of professionals across many fields and disciplines.

We want to keep doing this.

We are committed to being your long-term guide to figuring out how to confront this crisis and our recovery from it. But we can only do it with your help. These are extreme times and for LAist to survive them, we need you to donate.

Newsrooms are being devastated by layoffs and furloughs, at a time when their work has never been more essential.

We are still here -- for now -- but we are threatened by the same loss of revenue that has devastated other media outlets. Please, right now, support our vital, local, nonprofit journalism with a donation. LAist could disappear without your support.

Right now, Southern California needs more journalism, not less, but our fiscal health is challenged. We're now bracing for an expected 25% drop in our revenue -- a terrifying forecast for our mission-driven newsroom. If you can help us close the gap, now is the time to do it.

Since the world exploded, my main focus has been to create and maintain our definitive local guide about the coronavirus crisis. I have done almost nothing else (including eating, sleeping and going outside). All day, every day I edit, write, add, subtract, structure, frame, update, update, update, update and update (and update) our monster 15,000+ word resource:

It has everything: scary maps, how to get tested, help with applying for unemployment, a list of things your landlord can't do, resources for free food, details about where you are/aren't allowed to go, loan options, science!, a timeline of events, what officials say, how to make a DIY mask, news on schools and hospitals and courtrooms, where you can still get parking tickets, what to do if your neighbor is throwing parties, and that's just the beginning. It's a reflection of the reporting from every corner of our (virtual) newsroom, and beyond.

And you will never hit a paywall trying to access it. LAist's content is free for everyone.

This guide has been read nearly 400,000 times since we first published on Jan. 28. We could save a bunch of jobs if everyone who read it rose to the challenge and donated.

Thank you for trusting LAist to help you navigate these weird and worrisome days. And thank you for donating. Your partnership is crucial and deeply appreciated. I'd totally hug you if it wasn't totally against the rules.

OK, I have to get back to updating the guide.

Thank you,

Lisa Brenner
Associate Editor, LAist

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