The Bay Citizen Begins Enterprise Reporting About the Bay Area and Launches Web Site

SAN FRANCISCO, May 26 /PRNewswire/ -- The Bay Citizen, a nonprofit, nonpartisan public media organization based in San Francisco, announced today that it has launched its Web site, www.baycitizen.org, featuring enterprise reporting from its newsroom of fourteen reporters and editors.

Lead stories and other content at launch include:

• an investigation into the legacy of Proposition 13 in San Francisco's wealthiest neighborhood, where some residents pay well under $10,000 in annual property taxes on houses worth tens of millions of dollars;
• an examination of the widespread use, and sale, of hazardous pesticides in the quasi-legal marijuana cultivation business;
• the Pulse of the Bay news blog, which provides a quick look at Bay Area news developments throughout the day; and
• the debut of a unique weekly column, "File Under Juvenile," that looks at the critically important but chronically troubled child protection system.

The Web site also emphasizes community engagement by inviting user-submitted tips and stories and "Citizen Blogs," which are blogs created by users hosted on The Bay Citizen's Web site, among other interactive features.

The organization also announced that it had raised over $3.7 million in multi-year funding from individuals and foundations since February 2010.

Major gifts to The Bay Citizen include three donations of $1 million each from the Fisher family, Jeff and Laurie Ubben, and Diane B. Wilsey. Supporting contributions also came from the S.D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation; Arthur Rock; Lynn Feintech and Anthony Bernhardt; The San Francisco Foundation; and others.

To date, The Bay Citizen has also raised over $65,000 from its founding member campaign. More than 750 individuals became founding members by contributing $50 or more.

"We're extremely grateful to our founding donors. Their contributions have helped us take another important step toward the long-term sustainability of the organization. We are thrilled to have their support as we launch our site and continue to build our newsroom," said Lisa Frazier, CEO of The Bay Citizen.

The additional funds supplement The Bay Citizen's $5 million seed funding from the Hellman Family Foundation and a gift from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.

About The Bay Citizen

The Bay Citizen is a 501(c)3 nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization with the mission of enhancing civic and community news coverage in the Bay Area, stimulating innovation in journalism, and fostering civic engagement.  The professional news organization leverages broad collaborations and new digital technologies to provide Bay Area news that reflects the region's dynamic social and cultural diversity. Coverage includes public policy, education, the arts and cultural affairs, health and science, the environment, and more.  The Bay Citizen's Web site (www.baycitizen.org) launched on May 26, 2010.  Shortly thereafter, the organization expects to have its news articles printed in The New York Times' Bay Area report on Fridays and Sundays. For more information, please visit www.baycitizen.org.

SOURCE The Bay Citizen