San Francisco Public Press

The San Francisco Public Press is doing for print and Web journalism what public broadcasting has done for radio and television. We publish a website and quarterly newspaper, and partner with other public media and civic groups on reporting and convening public events.

We were thrilled this weekend to receive awards from the California Teachers Association and the national Education Writers Association, both for a report we produced last year about how segregation is increasing in San Francisco's public schools.

Other recent reports have included:

• The cost of living in San Francisco.
• How billions of dollars worth of new construction in two-dozen projects around the bay could be flooded within decades due to sea level rise.
• Attempts to alleviate homelessness with subsidized supportive housing are not keeping pace with growing demand.

Since 2009 we have established a reputation in the community for producing high-impact in-depth reporting projects on a wide range of topics. Our teams of seasoned journalists explain complex local policy issues in an accessible way, investigating problems and reporting on ideas for tangible solutions.

As commercial newsrooms continue to pare back their investigative units, we aim to fill the void with substantive coverage of education inequality, health care, affordable housing, climate change, homelessness, public safety, labor standards and other critical and timely local concerns.

We hire experienced freelance reporters to produce data-rich stories that readers can use to affect change in their communities. We frequently collaborate with other nonprofit organizations in our journalism and public programs.

The Public Press provides a unique node in a network of local public-media ventures by using our print and digital distribution to spotlight reporting from more than 30 nonprofit news and civic partners, including the three largest public radio stations in the Bay Area and more than 20 specialized and neighborhood publications. We are also regularly interviewed about our reporting projects on public radio.

All of our journalism, from 2009 forward, can be found at sfpublicpress.org. But even in one of the most tech-obsessed cities, our handcrafted approach to news in print is winning awards connecting to broad and diverse audiences.

While much of our funding comes from foundations and newspaper sales, it is pledges from individuals through our membership program that social entrepreneurs around the country are watching as a key part of our innovative sustainable business model for noncommercial local journalism.

The mission of the San Francisco Public Press is to enrich civic life in San Francisco by delivering public-interest journalism to broad and diverse audiences through print and interactive media not supported by advertising.