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 the city’s first nonprofit news organization dedicated to independent political and business reporting. Our mission is to change the face of local journalism by building a community-supported newsroom that ignites civic engagement, educates citizens and strengthens our democracy.

Our community needs another voice, an alternate source for high-quality, independent local news. Our stories will search for truth, shed light on wrongdoing and hold the powerful accountable. 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 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

California Waste Solutions

Facebook Journalism Project

$99,999-$25,000

Silicon Valley Community Foundation

Knight Foundation

The Davidson Family Foundation

The Miami Foundation

Google News Initiative

Santa Clara Valley Water District

Phil Koen

$24,999-$10,000

Willco Property Management

LIUNA Local 270

County of Santa Clara

U.S. Freight Systems

Jackson and Main

Local Independent Online News (LION) Publishers

Destination: Home

UA Local 393

eBay Foundation

Pacific Gas & Electric Company

International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 332

Voler Strategic Advisors

AFSCME Local 1587

The GroundTruth Project

IFPTE Local 21

Eddie D. Truong

Republic Urban

$9,999-$5,000

Working Partnerships USA

Kaiser Permanente

Nunez Family Foundation

MEPS Silicon Valley

Pat Waite

Marquis Advisory Group

David E. and Barbara Cohen

AFSCME Local 101

Amalgamated Transit Union Local 265

San Jose Water Company

Excite Credit Union

Sheet Metal Workers Local 104

Google News Initiative

Sprinkler Fitters Local 483

San Jose Police Officers Association

AARP California

Sobrato Family Foundation

Jenny Wolfes

Nicole and Sean Morley

$4,999-$1,000

Ron Gonzales and Guisselle Nunez

Brian Bumb

San Jose Firefighters Local 230

SWENSON

IUPAT District Council 16

Rod Diridon, Sr.

Santa Clara County Building Trades Council

Vijay Sammeta

Sam Singer

Allan and Judy Thompson

Bill Roth

Gail Bautista

Rob Bettencourt

Ted Smith and Amanda Hawes

Gary Kremen

McManis Faulkner

Norm Kline

John Morgridge

Dominic and Suzanne Cortese

United Food and Commercial Workers, Local 5

Renaissance Journalism

Tom Saggau

Art Amirkhas

Sprinkler Fitters Local 480

Stephen Wright

Cisco Systems

Larry Stone

Dustin DeRollo

Rich Robinson

Rick Callender

CEMA

Housing Authority of Santa Clara County

Abode Services

Cafe Stritch

SPUR

Maria Fuentes

Terry Christensen

Ash and Bianca Pirayou

The Lenfest Institute for Journalism

Bob Staedler

Carpenters Local 405

Sacred Heart Community Service

The Core Companies

Nuria Fernandez

Harmeet Dhillon

Meri Maben

Erik Schoennauer

Joe Head

June Tran

Comcast

Al and Carmen Castellano

Geoff and Andrea Ralston

Rich De La Rosa

John and Barbara Comiskey

Ro Khanna

Reginald Swilley

Chris Platten

San Jose Sharks

[email protected] Action Fund

The Schoennauer Co.

Sand Hill Property Company

Karla Albright

Sara Wigh McManis

Chris Hickstein

PATH

Louis Rocha

Christopher Thompson

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.