Two hundred fifty years ago this summer, delegates met in Philadelphia and signed their names to a document that risked everything. The Declaration of Independence was a bet that ordinary people, given truthful information about those in power, could govern themselves.
That promise is harder to keep with every passing year. Though we’re overloaded with information, it’s more difficult to know what to trust, and there are fewer independent, unbiased reporters demanding government transparency and holding our officials to account.
That’s why I'm writing to ask for your support of Spotlight PA, a nonprofit, nonpartisan newsroom delivering the fact-based information “We the People” need to keep our republic.
A free society is not self-sustaining — it depends on Pennsylvanians knowing what their governor is doing, how their tax dollars are spent, whether their elections are run fairly, and what deals their lawmakers are making in Harrisburg.
That’s exactly what Spotlight PA delivers.
A recent independent statewide survey of 1,659 adults in Pennsylvania found 1 in 5 now read Spotlight PA at least occasionally. Of those, 46 percent said our reporting made an impact on them, such as changing how they thought about an issue or prompting them to take action.
That is the work of accountability journalism — reminding people of their right to self-governance, giving them factual information on what’s happening and why, and inspiring them to get civically engaged and drive real, tangible change for the better.
This kind of investigative reporting is expensive and time-consuming. Our journalists file requests for public records that take months to pry loose, spend hours in courthouses and committee hearings, and file lawsuits when officials obstruct the people’s right to know.
We publish what some in power would rather see buried — and then make it available at no cost to all Pennsylvanians and our network of more than 125 partner news organizations.
The reporting, like our country, belongs to the public, and it is paid for by readers like you who believe a free society in Pennsylvania is worth defending for the next 250 years. Make a gift in support of Spotlight PA at spotlightpa.org/donate, and for a limited time, your tax-deductible gift of any amount will be doubled by the Lenfest Institute for Journalism.
You can also send a check, donor-advised fund contribution, or qualified charitable distribution to: Spotlight PA, 312 Market St., #11728, Harrisburg, PA 17108.
Thank you for recommitting to our free country and the free press it requires.
Christopher Baxter is president and CEO of Spotlight PA, an independent, nonpartisan, and nonprofit newsroom producing investigative and public-service journalism that holds power to account and drives positive change in Pennsylvania.