A free press holds a democracy together by demanding accountability and transparency. As the COVID-19 outbreak hit the Tampa Bay area, the public wondered who to trust, not to mention whether it was safe to eat out and how local artists and music venues would survive.
Creative Loafing Tampa Bay has been an important voice in Tampa my entire life. Over more than three decades it’s earned a reputation for the staff’s honest, local reporting through its coverage of arts, music, and nightlife all coupled with a duty to provide voice to vulnerable residents and the paper's mission to ask those in positions of power to answer and explain decisions and policies.
COVID-19 revealed other ongoing epidemics of racial and economic injustices that were affecting people of color and local business owners. Despite the harrowing financial outlook for newspapers, Creative Loafing has committed reporters, resources and space to fairly covering public demonstrations and responses to necessary public health interventions aimed at combating the ongoing virus. While I have read Creative Loafing for years, I now feel compelled to also financially support the organization as a member of the Tampa Press Club to help ensure that a free press remains a staple in Tampa Bay.
—Jason W. Wilson, MD, MA, FACEP
Since March, CL has asked readers for support to keep bringing the community this free newspaper online and on newsstands. Some Press Club members have gone even further and written letters of support like the one above. If you’d like to make a one-time or recurring donation, please find the “support” tab on cltampa.com. Thank you.
This article appears in Oct 15-21, 2020.