We’re working nonstop to provide critical coronavirus coverage. But we need your help
Dear Readers,
It has been quite a stretch for our newsrooms.
The novel coronavirus crisis has been an all-hands drill unlike any we’ve seen. In the past month, our journalists at the Miami Herald and el Nuevo Herald have been working nearly round the clock to provide readers with critical coverage.
We have published dozens of stories and videos a day, from a steady stream of breaking news to accountability journalism and investigative stories. We have answered scores of reader questions, investigated tips, fought for access to government briefings, filed dozens of public records requests and shared much-needed stories of resiliency and uplift.
We provided all of this coronavirus coverage for free.
Now, we simply can’t afford to do that anymore.
Starting today, we are reinstating the metered paywall on much of our coronavirus coverage. We will continue to provide free access to stories that address critical health and safety information, as well as our continuously updated coronavirus blog.
Our ability to continue to serve our community depends on the financial support that comes, in large part, from subscriptions.
During our 116-year history, the Miami Herald has covered many important stories: from waves of mass migrations that began six decades ago, to the riots that rocked our city in the 1980s, to the destruction left in the wake of Hurricane Andrew in 1992, to the now annual threats of massive hurricanes that train their track on South Florida.
This story is different. It is international, national, and intensely local. It is dangerous to cover. And no one is immune. This pandemic has affected nearly every business and industry, from travel and tourism to local restaurants and barber shops. Most of our local business partners can no longer afford to advertise.
This, at a time when the local news industry is already grappling with a flailing financial model that has been upended by technology. As Neil Brown, president of The Poynter Institute for Media Studies recently noted: The newspaper industry got coronavirus — and it already had underlying conditions.
Yet we need journalists in service to our readers asking the tough questions, pushing for answers, highlighting solutions. This is what our staff has been doing.
In just the last month, we wrote about a Miami man who flew back from China, developed flu-like symptoms and sought a coronavirus test. He didn’t have the virus. But he got a $3,270 bill.
We broke the story about a cruise ship that arrived at PortMiami with a COVID-19 positive passenger — and yet thousands of passengers were allowed to depart with no screening.
We reported on the New York billionaire and donor to Gov. Ron DeSantis who took over the Four Seasons Palm Beach and shipped in his traders and staff, even though hotels across the state were closing.
And we mapped the capacity of every hospital in the state, showing that if 20% of the population of Florida contracts COVID-19 within six months, hospitals would be overrun with more patients than they have available beds.
And our readers have responded. Over the past month, our digital readership is up by more than 100%. And I have received many lovely emails from readers, thanking us for keeping them connected and informed throughout this crisis.
Our readers are relying on us for credible, fact-based news and information.
Now we must rely on reader support to continue our unrelenting commitment to public service journalism.
If you aren’t a subscriber, we think it’s an easy value proposition. For about the same price of a monthly subscription to Netflix, readers could have unlimited access to essential local content to keep you safe, informed and connected to everything happening in our community.
To our subscribers, we are grateful for your support. It allows us to do this work. If you subscribe to our print edition, please be sure to sign up for our digital services at miamiherald.com/activate so you can receive alerts and reports at any time, on any device.
Anyone can sign up for Coronavirus: the latest in Florida, a free email newsletter that comprehensively covers the latest developments on the virus and how it affects your life in South Florida.
If you are able, there is another way that you can help. Thanks to a matching grant from Report for America, we are adding two new staff members to the team. But we need reader support to raise $50,000 in matching funds to make this work possible. Individuals, organizations and businesses can make a tax-deductible donation directly to Report for America. All of the money will go directly to pay the salaries of these dedicated staff members.
We are in this with you for what will feel like a marathon. We will support this community in the ways we know best: by providing timely, accurate information, and holding the powerful accountable. We’ll do it through the spread of the virus, its peak, and when we begin to recover and rebound. And I say again: We need your support.
Stay safe. And feel free to contact me with any comments, questions, suggestions or criticisms.
This story was originally published April 6, 2020 at 1:50 PM.
