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If you are looking for our editorial independence and financial transparency policies, scroll to the bottom of this page.
We started The Frisc two short years ago to share voices and tell stories about a city in flux. You might even say “in crisis.” The city — our city — needed more reporting, more stories, more context, more voices at a time when local and news media were shrinking.
We’ve been filling that need. The Frisc has published 150 articles, features, and photo essays (with just two journalists working part-time and a few freelancers), all obsessively focused on San Francisco. Here’s how we assess our impact:
The Frisc has, in short order, become a recognized publication for thought leadership on SF’s twin crises of housing and homelessness.
The Frisc has brought to the fore issues of race and class affecting our city’s public schools.
The Frisc has put a spotlight on local and bureaucratic obstacles to better transit and safer streets.
Most important, The Frisc has upheld San Francisco’s values of inclusion, innovation, and creativity against a cynical, sclerotic, and divisive politics and culture.
On the business end, we accept tax-deductible donations via our nonprofit fiscal sponsor Independent Arts & Media (EIN: 94–3355076). We’re not reliant on invasive advertising or profit-driven investors. We’re not beholden to any interest group or political movement. No sense in mincing words: We need you, our readers, to pitch in and fund our work.
Let’s get on with shaping, extending, and amplifying the conversation that San Francisco deserves. With every story, we strive to give you the broad picture — the civic good, the urban fabric, what it means to be here now, whether you’re teaching or raising kids, running a small business, making art, fighting over housing, or just trying to get to work in one piece.
Your donations matter. In only six months, you have helped us pay writers like Andrea Powell to explore the reluctance of the city’s progressives to challenge Mayor London Breed’s re-election; like Diego Aguilar-Canabal, who examined fears of gentrification voiced by opponents of bus-only traffic lanes; like Sherri Eng, who took us for a bay swim at the Dolphin Club, where members are fighting over tech access; and like Steve Casner, who got inside the minds of San Francisco’s sidewalk scofflaws.
Your support, and dare we say faith in The Frisc, allowed us to offer Yonah Freemark, a high-profile urban planner, a space to rebut antigrowth advocates who were misrepresenting his work and using it to fight state legislation proposed by San Francisco’s Scott Wiener. Freemark’s piece, keying in on sober analysis, details, and the need for more research, drew accolades in urbanist circles across the city, state, and country — even abroad.
We’ve done all this on a shoestring. Imagine what we can do with more writers, more resources, and more support.
Yes, The Frisc is a play on “Frisco” — the nickname generations of San Franciscans have been taught to abhor. We chose it precisely because we don’t hew to tired, parochial, precious views of our beloved city. Call it whatever the hell you want—then go out and make sure the changes we experience are for the better. Be engaged, vote, volunteer, pick up trash in the park or on the beach. Have a block party. Say hi to the person next to you.
One of the best comments we’ve heard in two years of reporting in the city was from a man who attended the ugly, chaotic meeting for the city’s proposed homeless Navigation Center on the Embarcadero. After the shouting and jeering were over, he approached an outreach official and asked, “What can I do to help?”
So tell us: What do you want to see covered? What’s your voice, your story? What can we do to help? We look forward to hearing from you: thefrisc AT gmail.com.
Alex Lash
Anthony Lazarus
Jeremy LaCroix
EDITORIAL INDEPENDENCE POLICY
The Frisc will not accept donations from any individual or organization that compromises our editorial independence. All gifts, grants, and donations fund general operations and editorial coverage. Receipt of a financial contribution does not constitute endorsement of a donor or a donor’s position.
All editorial decisions are controlled by our editorial staff. We do not allow donors to assign, edit, or review stories before publication.
We are nonpartisan and do not endorse candidates for political office or ballot measures. Our stories, reports, and analysis strive to promote civic engagement, accountability, and discourse.
FINANCIAL TRANSPARENCY POLICY
We accept tax-deductible donations via our 501(c)3 fiscal sponsor, Independent Arts & Media of San Francisco, which does not direct or influence The Frisc’s editorial decisions other than the stipulation that we follow all relevant nonprofit rules. IAM charges a fee for processing donations to The Frisc. All other funds are passed through to The Frisc. You can find IAM’s 990 form here.
We pledge to identify all donors of $5,000 or more on this page.
We pledge that no more than 5% of our annual budget will come from anonymous donations.