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Active Investigations
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Your Dollars At Work

What Your Donation Funds

📋
Public Records Litigation
When agencies stonewall, we fight back. Your support covers the cost of filing CPRA requests, formal demands, and appeals — the unglamorous grunt work that forces transparency.
🔍
Original Investigative Reporting
From Manteca school district records to state-level accountability, we spend months on single investigations that local TV won't touch. That takes time — and your support makes it possible.
🌐
Keeping It Free for Everyone
No paywall. No subscriber tiers. Every story we publish is accessible to every resident of the Valley — regardless of income. Donors make that commitment real.
🎙️
Community Voice & Multilingual Access
Our community extends across language lines. We're building toward bilingual coverage and outreach that reaches residents who are typically locked out of local news.
🏛️
Accountability Desk Operations
The Northern Star Accountability Desk tracks school board votes, city council decisions, and state-level policy — the slow grind of civic journalism that democracy depends on.
📡
The DFP Newswire
We distribute press releases for local nonprofits, small businesses, and community organizations who can't afford corporate PR wire services — amplifying voices that go unheard.
Why It Matters

We Work for Readers.
Not Advertisers.

  • ✓
    No advertiser relationships We've turned down ad revenue to preserve our editorial independence. No sponsor ever tells us what to cover — or what not to.
  • ✓
    No government funding We don't take city, county, or state grants. Our job is to hold government accountable — you can't do that on their dime.
  • ✓
    No corporate backing No private equity. No hedge fund parent company. The only people we answer to are our readers.
  • ✓
    Published ethics and corrections policy We make our standards public, post corrections prominently, and hold ourselves to the same accountability we demand from others.
Independent journalism is the last check on power that money can't buy — unless it can buy the newsroom.
— Dismal Freedom Press Editorial Principles
Member of
International Federation of Journalists (IFJ)
National Writers Union (NWU)
Local Independent Online News (LION) Publishers
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Every Dollar Makes a Difference

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Reader
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$25
One-time
Supporter
Covers one day of investigative reporting time. This is the most common donation from our community.
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$50
One-time
Advocate
Funds a full CPRA records request filing and follow-up. You are directly funding government accountability.
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$100
One-time
Founding Member
A foundational gift. You're helping sustain the infrastructure of a free press in the Central Valley.
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Financial Transparency

Where the Money Goes

Reporting & Investigations 70%
Public Records & Legal 15%
Technology & Infrastructure 10%
Operations & Administration 5%

We believe a newsroom that demands transparency from others must demonstrate it themselves. We publish our revenue sources, editorial policies, and ethics code openly.

We are a reader-funded, independent press operation. We do not accept advertising, government grants, or undisclosed outside investment. Our funding model is simple: readers who believe in the mission support the mission.

Ethics Policy Corrections About & Mission Campaign Firewall
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