Where do you get your money?

I’m a little taken aback about the charge that [revealing the funding source] hurts the independence of our reporters. We feel it’s important for our credibility to be as transparent as possible and to fully disclose our sources of revenue. I think all news sources should, including alt-weeklies. I realize there are journalists out there who think they have more independence by being ignorant of where their money comes from. But we feel it’s better to be honest and open about it.

We need to raise money for all our areas of coverage, from local government to education. Disclosing where the money for those areas comes from may give ammunition to the people who want to criticize us, definitely. But that’s the point. Independence doesn’t come from ignorance, it comes from being transparent and being proud and honest about where you get the resources to do the things you do. It comes from confronting sources of revenue when you have to and it comes from being confident that they’re buying into your mission.