Dear friend,

It’s difficult being a small newsroom right now. It’s even harder when you’re a small newsroom covering a community that has long been ignored by the mainstream press, or — at best — treated as a fringe beat.

That difficulty feels heavier, especially right now. From the beginning, I’ve said LOOKOUT is not a traditional LGBTQ+ news outlet. And for the past three years, I and a tiny team of freelancers, fellows, and part-timers have proven that through our accountability-first approach. 

Because of that, we’ve earned the trust of thousands of Arizonans — and readers as far away as Canada! — who rely on us not just for news, but for context and nuance about what’s happening to our community.

Right now, immigration and safety sit at the center of our coverage, and will for the foreseeable future. ICE raids are becoming more frequent in Arizona — and, if trends hold, more violent. That’s why you’ve seen me on our Instagram lives being at as many protests and ICE operations I can physically get to over the past week.

So why can’t LOOKOUT be at more? Well, because those in power are showing us they don't care.

About three weeks ago, we reached out to 10 different foundations that we have previous relationships with, asking for a rapid response to proactively cover this moment with the seriousness it demands and that for the safety of our community and team, we needed more people. Their response? One foundation responded to offer support — even though they couldn't help in a large monetary way — and another stated they wouldn't help at all. 

LOOKOUT family, I hate to say this — mostly because it confirms what I’ve been quietly saying for years — but the majority of institutions that claim to support local news routinely abandon it, especially when that news serves communities like ours, and in moments such as now when we need them most. 

The good news: we’re bringing on our first full-time hire, starting mid-February, focused on politics with our “Eyes on the State” newsletter and other general assignment work. We’ll announce him next week once he finalizes his transition.

But he is one person. I am the other reporter. And as editor and operator of this news organization, that still leaves us as a 1.5-person reporting team.

That’s why I’m asking for emergency help.

We’re facing a choice: cut our programs and magazine distribution to hire another reporter, or ask our community to step up. Cutting programs would undermine everything LOOKOUT is built on. We don’t just “bring you the news.” We bring people together. Anything less than that would be exploitation. And you’ve seen that when news outlets claim to cover their communities, but only show up when a story needs to be told. 

We need to bring on more reporters (even temporarily) and we need to pay them fairly. Ideally, we need an additional $75,000 to hire a reporter, fully pay for their health care, provide proper equipment, and give them the time off this work demands. 

I don’t know if we’ll get there. But I’m hoping our community (and the funders reading this) have the courage to stand with us while a 1.5-person team puts their bodies on the line to document what immigration enforcement looks like in this state, and how it affects our community — many of whom also are putting their lives in danger. 

If you can, stand with us.