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Tis the Season! Will You Give to BK Reader?

Dear BK Readers, As you probably have heard by now, local news outlets across the country are struggling, and BK Reader is no exception.
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Dear BK Readers,

As you probably have heard by now, local news outlets across the country are struggling, and BK Reader is no exception. In the past ten years alone, I’m sure you can name a few of your favorite outletsâ€" both print and digitalâ€" that are no longer available. Poof! Like that, they’ve disappeared! 

Well, BK Reader has made it through this storm. For the last eight years, BK Reader has brought you originally reported news every day… and for free! But it hasn't been without challenges.

Our goal right now is to raise $10,000 by January 21, 2022. And if we can raise $2,500 by December 31, 2021, a private donor said he’ll match it. That means, if at least 100 people gave $25, we’d be halfway to our goal by the year’s end! 

So why are we asking now? Well, for one, we believe local news is worth this one investment in your local community. How about you?

The other reason is because, all of these years, we have avoided using a paywall and requiring a subscription from our local readers. But what that means is that the lionshare of our revenue must come from local advertising.

But guess what happened to all of the local businesses during COVID? They closed. There went our revenue, and as businesses struggle still to get back on their feet, that revenue has not returned. Still, BK Reader has not stopped a single day; We continue the work on-the-ground (and masked up) to bring our readers daily news updates as the pandemic rages on…

And now we need the help of the community we serve. If you’d like to see BK Reader continue into 2022 and beyond, we are asking that you please make a donation to the site today. $1 or $100, we appreciate it all. It’s your support that is the fuel that keeps our engine running. 

BK Reader for nearly a decade has done more than just provide daily news: Through the pandemic, we were the only local news outlet in Brooklyn to offer a daily COVID tracker by zip code in the neighborhoods we covered. We created ”Brooklyn Strong”-- a social media video series with local residents and celebrities around how to stay productive and guard your mental health during quarantine; and with ”Healthy Brooklyn” another video series, we sought out health practitioners across the borough trained in various health modalities to offer a variety of ways to build your immune system during the pandemic.

We aligned with five other local non-profits to build and feature a live resource directory on BK Reader updated daily with information on jobs, children activities, PPE resources during the pandemic; our “Essential Brooklyn” special series highlighted 8 essential organizations in our neighborhoods bringing the greatest value to residents during COVID-19. And finally, through our non-profit arm, we created The COVID-19 Writers Project, a multimedia archive of 30 Brooklyn residents through Zoom video interviews, essays and photography captured and compiled over a course of 6 months during the height of the pandemic in 2020.

I feel proud to say: We put in the work every single day … and we’ve loved every minute of it! But make no mistake, the cost of labor and resources to keep this outlet breathing requires more than oxygen; it requires money.

Please consider supporting your independent, local news source! On behalf of the entire BK Reader team, we say, Happy Holidays. And “Thank you!!”

Sincerely,

C. Zawadi Morris, Publisher, Founder and Publisher, The Brooklyn Reader


P.S. If you are unable to make a donation at this time, we understand. There’s other ways you can support: Join us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter; subscribe to our free newsletter; and spread the word!




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