Opinions

From the editor: A new way to support our coronavirus reporting

Update, 5:30 p.m. Thursday, 4/16: More to come, but to the many people who have responded with donations and words of support: Thank you. We are deeply grateful. -dh

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It’s been a tough couple months for all of us.

As the coronavirus crisis continues, we’re continuing to mobilize to bring you deep, useful, around-the-clock coverage. Like all of you, the crisis has deeply changed our lives. Reporters, photographers and editors are working from kitchen tables and spare bedrooms, juggling families, home life and work, to bring you news and information you can depend on. As a public service, we continue to offer most of this content free to all.

We’ve seen record readership and we’ve heard from hundreds of you — with coverage ideas, feedback, questions, messages of support. Thank you.

In addition to the public health impacts and changes in daily life, the crisis has brought local economies across the country to a near standstill, including here in Alaska. It’s affected us, too. Traditional media advertising and event revenue have plunged. Independent regional news organizations like the Daily News are fighting to continue to be there for you at full strength — to provide clear, fact-based reporting that can be trusted, to hold officials and institutions accountable, to bring you timely community information, to connect Alaskans with each other.

We’ve been heartened by the many readers who have subscribed, which helps offset loss of other revenue. Direct reader support is central to our future. Readers have asked whether they can support the Daily News and our continuing coverage of the crisis in ways beyond subscriptions. I'm happy to report the answer is yes. We’ve partnered with the Local Media Association, a national trade organization, to give readers and organizations a new way to provide direct support for our work. The association has created a 501(c)(3) fund to enable tax-deductible support for local news organizations.

If you believe local news and information are critical, please consider joining others in making a tax-deductible donation to this new fund.

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DONATE NOW TO OUR COVID-19 NEWS FUND

Every dollar raised goes directly to the ADN newsroom to support our continuing coronavirus coverage. Stories about gaps in testing capacity, the struggles of local businesses, roundups of assistance available and how it's being delivered, a look at the good, inspiring work being done in Alaska. Consistently timely and reliable news and information.

(If you haven’t subscribed, please consider it. It’s not expensive and it powers what we do.)

As always, thanks for reading and thanks for your continued support. Please stay safe and healthy.

David Hulen

Editor, Anchorage Daily News

P.S. We’d love to hear your ideas and feedback. Email me at dhulen@adn.com or use this form.

Earlier: We’ve mobilized to cover the coronavirus crisis. We need your help.

[Because of a high volume of comments requiring moderation, we are temporarily disabling comments on many of our articles so editors can focus on the coronavirus crisis and other coverage. We invite you to write a letter to the editor or reach out directly if you’d like to communicate with us about a particular article. Thanks.]

David Hulen

David Hulen is editor of the ADN, He's been a reporter and editor at ADN for 36 years. As a reporter, he traveled extensively in Alaska. He was a writer on the "People In Peril" series and covered the Exxon Valdez oil spill. He was co-editor of the "Lawless" series. Reach him at dhulen@adn.com.

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