Non-paywalled local news · Tampa Bay
The news about your city shouldn't be locked behind a paywall.
Every day, folks across the Tampa Bay area wake up and seek information that shapes their movements, views and thinking.
Some of the questions are easy.
What do I wear for this weather? What does my commute look like? What do I do with my weekend or the extra money burning a hole in my pocket?
Others are more consequential.
Can we afford groceries? Can we afford rent? What’s happening in our neighborhood? Who should I vote for, and why?
There’s one question people should never have to ask themselves: Can I afford the information I need to understand my own community?
Tampa Bay Journalism Project is a nonprofit-driven effort to unlock and amplify more local, non-paywalled news and information. A capital campaign is underway to help expand Creative Loafing's newsroom, which includes just two editorial staffers. Keep scrolling to see how the project works, and how the money will help.
Tax-deductible through the Alternative News Foundation, a 501(c)(3).
Why this matters
Local reporting is vanishing - and paywalls thin what's left.
U.S. newspapers closed this past year - more than two every week.
Americans now live in counties with limited or no access to local news.
"No one should have to ask: can I afford the information I need to understand my own community?"
How it works
Why is journalism treated like a commodity when it should be treated as a basic need for any community that seeks to have healthy residents?
Led by Creative Loafing Tampa Bay, the Tampa Bay Journalism Project (TBJP) is built around a coalition of non-paywalled, community-centric publications that have made their content available to share with TBJP partners who are all free to repackage and re-share the stories for their unique audiences, on their unique platforms, thus expanding access to local journalism for all.
You give
Tax-deductible gifts flow to the Alternative News Foundation, our 501(c)(3) sponsor, which covers our operating costs minus its nominal operating fee.
We hire reporters
Funds raised help CL pay for three additional reporter-editors and a staff photographer with wages that allow them to live in the community they cover.
We publish
Your contribution helps make that news-gathering, and subsequent stories, free to access, no metering, no subscriber wall, no exceptions - regardless of a reader's income or ability to pay.
The coalition shares it
Partner newsrooms are free to republish the work and we amplify their stories, too. That means one story reaches more eyeballs and homes, connecting more readers with the communities they call home.
Where your gift goes
The campaign expands Creative Loafing's newsroom with four new roles.
Each role is on a two-year contract at wages that let them live in the community they cover, plus the reporting costs that make the work possible.
- News Reporter
- Arts & Entertainment Editor
- Food & Drink Critic-Editor
- Staff Photographer
The coalition
Independent, local, and not competing - collaborating.
Non-paywalled Tampa Bay outlets that share reporting through the project.
+ your newsroom
Ways to give
Give in whatever way works for you.
One-time or monthly - every gift is tax-deductible through the Alternative News Foundation.
Cash or card
Give once, or become a monthly sustainer and fund a beat all year.
Stock & crypto
Donate appreciated assets or cryptocurrency through the ANF giving portal.
Donor-advised funds
Recommend a grant from your DAF, or ask about major and legacy gifts.
Keep Tampa Bay's news free to read.
Every gift moves the needle toward $750,000. Thank you for your support and interest.