About Us
We’re changing the face of local journalism by providing an innovative model for delivering independent news to Northern California’s largest city.
Publisher of the Year 2020, Local Independent Online News Publishers
“The writing is crisp, love the diversity of coverage, translation of English into Spanish and Vietnamese to reach their readers… that two-way conversation with their community is so very important, something that a lot of publications have lost sight of.”
Our Mission
San José Spotlight is an award-winning nonprofit newsroom dedicated to fearless journalism that disrupts the status quo, uplifts marginalized voices, holds power to account and paves the way for change. Our mission is to change the face of local journalism by building a community-supported newsroom that ignites civic engagement, educates residents and strengthens our democracy.
Our civic-minded journalism searches for truth, sheds light on wrongdoing and reveals stories that would otherwise go untold. We are the community’s newsroom and we’re powered by your support and donations.
San José Spotlight is a project of the San José News Bureau, a 501(c)(3) charitable organization | Tax ID: 82-5355128. All donations are tax deductible.
Awards
San José Spotlight places first in regional journalism awards from the San Francisco Press Club
Video Journalism award for “Backbone of Silicon Valley” from the Society of Professional Journalists – Northern California
San José Spotlight nets 8 wins in annual California Journalism Awards from the California News Publishers Association
San José Spotlight wins James Madison Freedom of Information award from the Society of Professional Journalists – Northern California
San José Spotlight wins national Publisher of the Year award from the Local Independent Online News (LION) Publishers
Finalist for two national journalism awards from the Local Independent Online News (LION) Publishers, including Publisher of the Year
Four California Journalism Awards in the 2019 competition sponsored by the California News Publishers Association
Editorial Independence Policy
We adhere to the editorial independence policy adopted by the Institute for Nonprofit News.
San José Spotlight relies on donations and memberships to power our nonprofit newsroom, but our organization maintains editorial control of the coverage. Donors and sponsors have no influence over our content. Donors have no involvement in news decisions and we do not give supporters the rights to assign, review or edit content.
News judgments are made independently and not on the basis of donor support. Your trust is the cornerstone of San José Spotlight’s success. We’ll always maintain a firewall between news coverage decisions and sources of all revenue.
Donor Transparency
We are committed to transparency in every aspect of funding our organization. That’s why we disclose every penny donated to San José Spotlight.
We accept gifts, grants and sponsorships from individuals, organizations and foundations to support our work. Accepting financial support does not mean we endorse donors or their products, services or opinions.
We will not accept donations from sources who, deemed by our Board of Directors, present a conflict of interest with our work or compromise our independence.
San José Spotlight Donors
More than $100,000
American Journalism Project
California Waste Solutions
Google News Initiative
Heising-Simons Foundation
Facebook Journalism Project
$99,999-$25,000
Valley Water
Silicon Valley Community Foundation
John S. and James L. Knight Foundation
The Davidson Family Foundation
Phil Koen
LIUNA Laborers Local 270
Local Independent Online News (LION) Publishers
International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 332
The Miami Foundation
AARP California
Willco Property Management
UA Local 393
Payroll Protection Program Funding
Destination: Home
IFPTE Local 21
County of Santa Clara
$24,999-$10,000
AARP California
Jackson and Main
Republic Urban
Pacific Gas & Electric Company
Voler Strategic Advisors
Sheet Metal Workers Local 104
Amalgamated Transit Union Local 265
MEPS Silicon Valley
eBay Foundation
AFSCME Local 101
Nunez Family Foundation
AFSCME Local 1587
Comcast
Working Partnerships USA
The GroundTruth Project
Jenny Wolfes
Sean and Nicole Morley
Kaiser Permanente
Santa Clara County Association of Realtors
San Jose Water Company
Eddie D. Truong
McManis-Wigh Chinese Foundation
The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation
$9,999-$5,000
Valley Physicians Group
Meri Maben and Walt Hammon
The Schoennauer Company
Excite Credit Union
Sprinkler Fitters Local 483
Urban Catalyst
Rod Diridon, Sr.
IUPAT District Council 16
Gary Kremen
Ron Gonzales
Pat Waite
Marquis Advisory Group
David E. and Barbara Cohen
Sobrato Family Foundation
Allan and Judy Thompson
CEMA
San Jose Police Officers Association
San Jose Firefighters Local 230
Society of Professional Journalists
Registered Nurses Professionals Association
South Bay Piping Industry
Silicon Valley Restaurant Association
Stanford University
Rutan & Tucker, LLP.
$4,999-$1,000
McManis Faulkner
Larry Stone
Brian Bumb
Art Amirkhas
Dominic and Suzanne Cortese
Sam Singer
SWENSON
San Jose Sharks
Richard Lowenthal
Law Foundation of Silicon Valley
Ted Smith and Amanda Hawes
United Airlines
San Jose/Silicon Valley NAACP
Santa Clara County Building Trades Council
Vijay Sammeta
SPUR
Carpenters Local 405
Gail Bautista
Housing Authority of Santa Clara County
Bill Roth
DEI Partner Fund
Rob Bettencourt
Gary Schoennauer
Teresa Alvarado
Norm Kline
Rich Robinson
Rick Callender
Tom Saggau
Dustin DeRollo
Renaissance Journalism
Sprinkler Fitters Local 480
Cisco Systems
John Morgridge
Stephen Wright
United Food and Commercial Workers, Local 5
Richard Alexander
Terrascape Ventures
Urban Community
Operating Engineers Local 3
Jesus Flores
Al and Carmen Castellano
Geoff and Andrea Ralston
John and Barbara Comiskey
Cafe Stritch
Abode Services
PATH
Karla Albright
Jamshid Mahdavi and Karen Fabrizius
Maria Fuentes
Terry Christensen
Housing Trust Silicon Valley
Ash and Bianca Pirayou
The Lenfest Institute for Journalism
The Core Companies
Bob Staedler
Ro Khanna
Minority Business Consortium
Sacred Heart Community Service
Reginald Swilley
San Jose Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce
Gloria Hoo
Nuria Fernandez
Erik Schoennauer
Harmeet Dhillon
Shiloh Ballard
Erik Hayden
Joe Head
June Tran
David and Elisa Ginsborg
Patricia Gardner
Rich De La Rosa
Don and Dory Albert
Steve Ellenberg
Christopher Thompson
Chris Platten
Sand Hill Property Company
SV@Home Action Fund
Louis Rocha
Walter Wilson
Chris Hickstein
Bob Nunez
Nhan Nguyen
Thao Tran
Castellano Family Foundation
Kevin Jensen
Anne Marie Sconberg
Roofers and Water Proofers Local 95
John McLemore
John McLemore
Privacy Policy
We will not release your name, email address or any other personal information to anyone outside San José Spotlight without your consent, unless we are under a legal order to do so, or there is an emergency involving danger to a person or property.