Dear reader: The Sacramento Bee needs your help

The coronavirus pandemic has brought significant challenges to our families and our communities. From schools to the workplace, our daily routines have been turned inside out. We have witnessed a heartbreaking loss of life. And millions have lost their jobs.

The response to this pandemic is the biggest story of our lives. At The Sacramento Bee, we feel a significant responsibility to report and share with you the full picture.

Our team published 670 stories in March, plus dozens of videos, Q&As, newsletters and voice updates. Much of this reporting goes beyond breaking news and reflects the enterprising journalism The Bee has consistently produced, going back 163 years. We dive deeply into our reporting. This is the kind of work that rarely appears in other local media.

Our photographers have headed out into the community to capture searing images of the crisis – a young woman dressed in her prom dress gazing out a window, a vivid behind-the-lines look at a Yuba County testing center. Our Capitol Bureau reporters are covering Gov. Gavin Newsom’s daily press briefings as pool representatives and our data reporters are parsing key points so they’re shared with important context.

We are grateful we can be here for you.

And like you, we are stressed. About our health and our jobs.

The pandemic has brought layoffs, furloughs and salary reductions to newsrooms large and small across the country. We’ve never had more readers online, and yet we’re fighting to hold the line, like many local businesses.

If you’re one of those local businesses, please enter your information at bit.ly/sacbee-covid-businesses so we can share the news of your re-opening with readers. We want to help and we have more planned, including live-streamed benefit concerts for local artists, virtual graduation ceremonies and a way for you to help lift up local heroes.

Here’s what we’re doing to preserve local news in Northern California, and where we need your help:

When the pandemic arrived, we made coronavirus coverage free – putting it in front of our paywall. That meant we didn’t ask people to subscribe. We’ve slowly started to put reporting that’s not in the interest of public health behind the paywall and we hope you understand why.

You can support our reporting by buying a subscription at sacbee.com/subscribe. Even better, you can suggest friends and neighbors do the same, like this kind woman in my neighborhood.

The recent surge in readership has helped the newsroom avoid layoffs and furloughs so far. But it’s a steep hill, and we’re thinking creatively about how to climb it.

If you’d like to help and you’re a subscriber, you can now make a tax-deductible donation to preserve local journalism. We have partnered with the nonprofit Local Media Foundation, which is accepting contributions on our behalf. Donate by visiting givebutter.com/sacbee.

Your tax-deductible gift will help us continue to report on the coronavirus and all of its impacts across our communities. We aim to raise $200,000 to keep our reporters reporting, our videographers recording and our editors at work delivering essential news and information to you.

With help from the Local Media Foundation, your gift goes directly to sustaining The Bee and continued accountability reporting as we navigate this critical time. It goes directly to the newsroom.

We could not believe what happened when we first published this column online Thursday and asked you to support us. As of Saturday, more than 330 people gave and a total of more than $21,000. Wow. We continue to be humbled and grateful for your material support and the encouraging notes you left along with your gifts.

This is a defining moment for all of us. And we realize many in our community are hurting. For some, a subscription or a donation is not an option. We understand and we will continue working to provide you with critical information for free as long as we can.

But if you’re able, please consider supporting our work in one of these ways. Our ability to continue serving you depends on it.

This story was originally published April 23, 2020 at 6:00 AM.