Mission Local, SF

We're finalists for four awards! Financial health, public service, collaboration of the year, and — if you can believe it — business of the year.

Hey! We were the *No. 15 most-read* nonprofit news site in the entire country last month—not bad! Nieman Lab's been keeping up w/nonprofit news traffic month by month, & we've been steadily climbing up the ranks in some very good company... So, thanks for reading, & for supporting the little newsroom that could. Full post from Nieman Journalism Lab here: https://lnkd.in/edrQFzDb

We're finalists for four awards! Financial health, public service, collaboration of the year, and — if you can believe it — business of the year.

We just wrapped up a fantastic couple days: Dean Baquet, the former executive editor of The New York Times, spent two days in Mission Local's newsroom, hosting 1-1 talks with reporters and editors, talking through beats, sourcing, newsroom structure, and much, much more. He regaled us with stories from his times at the head of newsrooms across the country, delved deep into how he approaches investigative stories, and talked about the importance of a local newsroom like ours. (He particularly called out Mission Local's "youthful energy" and how knowledgeable our young staff is — always a nice thing to hear!) It was a masterclass in reporting. Everyone on staff, from our youngest intern to our veteran columnist, will take something away from it.

We're *thrilled* to welcome our new tech reporter, Brandon Pho, who will lead a beat focused on Silicon Valley & power. Brandon joins us from San Jose Spotlight, where he's broken key stories at City Hall. He's already got a couple stories under his belt here at Mission Local. Check out his coverage of the $1.5 million being poured into Mayor Daniel Lurie's efforts to bolster mayoral power. https:// https://lnkd.in/gSNBUADJ -lurie-san-francisco-charter-reform-ballot-measure/ And a dispatch from an AI startup that took over a Painted Lady for their launch party. https:// https://lnkd.in/g-2mqjCf rtup-san-francisco-pirate-painted-lady/

We're thrilled: Mission Local has been given a special recognition award from the city for our immigration reporting! Last year we dove deep on ICE, courthouse arrests, protests, & much more. And we've hired a full-time immigration reporter to continue this work. You can learn more here, and the award ceremony is at City Hall next month: bit.ly/ircawards2026 Onwards.

NEWS: We are getting a new reporter, Adriana Gutierrez, through Report for America! Report for America has been a huge partner of Mission Local & other newsrooms—a lot of our reporters have started as corps members. Adriana starts this summer, covering neighborhood news. She will be one of 78 journalists being placed into newsrooms across the country by Report for America. You can read more here: https://lnkd.in/exXYRcs7

Big news: Mission Local now covers five San Francisco neighborhoods! 📍 The Tenderloin. Bayview. The Sunset. The Richmond. The Mission. Five communities. Five dedicated reporters. One commitment: free, high-quality local journalism for all of San Francisco. We hope to raise $125,000 by the end of May — and thanks to $50,000 in matching funds, every gift made today is doubled! Your support is what sustains local news. 🔗 Donate here, and make your gift go twice as far: https://lnkd.in/gFgBDsjz

Some personal news: I'm thrilled to take on the executive editor role at a time when I think we're doing some of the best local reporting in the country, with far fewer resources than other newsrooms. I've learned more than I can say from Lydia, Joe E. & the rest of the crew—very thankful for the mentorship.