Many journalists are without work as publications shut down and freelance budgets are frozen due to COVID-19.

Journalism is critical to our collective health and safety right now. Reporters play a vital role in holding powerful people accountable during such precarious times.

Shadowproof needs your help raising money for freelancers covering the pandemic’s impact on health care, labor, prisons, and more. We’re matching donations up to $5,000 to maximize the benefit we can provide to people we believe are essential workers.

Journalists were dealing with a terrible media economy before the pandemic, and it’s become far worse.

The New York Times estimates 33,000 “workers at news companies have been laid off, been furloughed or had their pay reduced.” That number probably does not reflect how many freelance journalists no longer have their pitches accepted outlets that used to be fairly reliable sources of income.

Your donations will be matched—up to $5,000—thanks to the generosity of our founder Kevin Gosztola. He is committing some of the funds left to him after his father died.

Our hope is to facilitate mutual aid with reporters, providing them an opportunity for income they need while publishing investigations and analyses crucial to communities.

We’re already fielding pitches from reporters, and we’re eager to support their work. Help us by making a donation of $25 today.