2025-11-18T01:03:28-07:00 2024-12-31 990 2024-01-01 271275141 SAN FRANCISCO PUBLIC PRESS SANF 4154957377 44 Page Street Suite 504 San Francisco CA 94102 Lila LaHood Treasurer 4154957377 2025-11-17 1 2024 2025-03-06 01:10:19Z Lila LaHood 44 Page Street Suite 504 San Francisco CA 94102 562012 0 X https://sfpublicpress.org X 2009 CA The mission of the San Francisco Public Press is to enrich civic life by publishing investigative and solutions journalism that engages diverse audiences and promotes public accountability. The San Francisco Public Press is a nonprofit, noncommercial news organization that publishes independent public-interest journalism about under-covered topics, with a focus on under-served audiences. Online and on community radio station KSFP-LP, broadcasting on 102.5 FM in San Francisco, we offer local investigative and solutions reporting. Coverage areas include environmental protection, housing affordability, public health, transportation safety, homeless services, digital privacy, immigration and elections. 9 8 10 8 0 0 429984 560461 105 1551 0 0 142 0 430231 562012 5700 0 0 0 384875 401776 0 0 69990 79646 133231 470221 535007 -39990 27005 15587 42592 0 0 15587 42592 The mission of the San Francisco Public Press is to enrich civic life by publishing investigative and solutions journalism that engages diverse audiences and promotes public accountability. The San Francisco Public Press (sfpublicpress.org) is a nonprofit, noncommercial news organization that produces independent public-interest journalism about under-covered topics, with a focus on under-served audiences. Online and via community radio station KSFP-LP, broadcasting on 102.5 FM in San Francisco, we offer local investigative and solutions reporting. Coverage areas include environmental protection, housing affordability, public health, transportation safety, homeless services, digital privacy, immigration and elections. For every local election, we produce a comprehensive, multimedia nonpartisan voter guide. 0 0 432641 0 1551 The San Francisco Public Press is a nonprofit, noncommercial news organization that produces independent public-interest journalism about under-covered topics, with a focus on under-served audiences. Online and on community radio station KSFP-LP, broadcasting on 102.5 FM in San Francisco, we offer local investigative and solutions reporting. Coverage areas include environmental protection, housing affordability, public health, transportation safety, homeless services, digital privacy, immigration and elections. The Public Press experienced a leadership transition in early 2024 as Lila LaHood, who previously served as publisher, stepped into the role of executive director, previously held by Michael Stoll for 15 years. Stoll and LaHood co-founded the Public Press with the support of a volunteer steering committee in 2009. Following the 2024 leadership change, Stoll remained on the board of directors and transitioned into a new newsroom role as senior editor so he could return to his first passion, science and environment reporting. We published our biggest project toward the end of 2024: "Exposed: The Human Radiation Experiments at Hunters Point," a series of six articles by Chris Roberts and two podcast episodes by Rebecca Bowe. Michael Stoll served as project editor. The following spring, "Exposed" won the 2025 national Izzy Award from the Park Center for Independent Media at Ithaca College. For "Exposed," our team sifted through thousands of pages of obscure records, interviewed experts and tracked down elderly veterans who were subjected to ethically questionable radiation exposure by the U.S. Navy in San Francisco during the Cold War (see: https://www.sfpublicpress.org/exposed/). What we found reveals a troubling history with effects still felt today. The Guardian (U.K.) was a publishing partner. Public Health Watch and The San Francisco Bay View National Black Newspaper republished articles and reached some of the people most affected. Community organizations repeatedly shared the project and referred to it in a current day court case. For every local election, the Public Press produces a comprehensive, multimedia nonpartisan voter guide. In 2024, we produced guides for the March and November elections. In 2024, the team for "Civic," our local public policy interview podcast and radio show, produced two seasons, with in-depth reporting and highly produced episodes. Early in the year, investigative reporter Sylvie Sturm and producer Liana Wilcox produced an episode about drug policy and addiction specialists' opposition to a San Francisco ballot measure that would compel adult welfare recipients to undergo drug screening before collecting cash benefits and another about the increase in overdose deaths among the city's Maya immigrants, highlighting the need for culturally competent drug treatment services. This reporting built on Sturm's previous coverage of the city's opioid crisis. Wilcox worked with reporter Zhe Wu on an episode about community groups' efforts to address concerns about violence against Asian Americans in San Francisco. Mel Baker, our director of programming for KSFP, produced an episode looking back at the COVID-19 pandemic and public health lessons learned from it. Election-related episodes with Lila LaHood explored increased spending in judges races that used to go uncontested and a primer on the process for electing party representatives to county central committees, which California voters are asked to do every four years, while Baker explored dueling ballot propositions designed to overhaul the city's commissions and how the existing system came to be. Wilcox and Baker also led production of episodes on a wide range of topics built around reporting by other journalists in our newsroom, some of which are described below. (See: https://www.sfpublicpress.org/civic). In addition to his work on "Civic," Baker diligently reached out to a diverse array of local audio producers with offers to broadcast their podcasts on KSFP, which now showcases dozens of voices representing communities from around the Bay Area. For our website, Wu, who joined our newsroom through the California Local News Fellowship program, reported extensively on San Francisco's Chinese American communities. Her stories included reporting on volunteer efforts to save culturally significant records in Chinatown, the new dragon unveiled for the Chinese New Year Parade finale and a cultural history of this annual event that dates back nearly 175 years, conflict over amplified sound at outdoor events, and a public art registry for Chinatown. She also reported more broadly on inadequate translation services at City Hall, and neighbors opposing a cannabis dispensary. Wu was the first local journalist to report on significant opposition to a ballot measure aiming to close a section of San Francisco's Great Highway and turn it into a park. She followed up with an in-depth analysis of what would happen to traffic in the neighborhood if this roadway were closed to cars. She brought all of this reporting together for a "Civic" podcast episode. After voters approved the measure in a citywide election, Wu reported on how a group of community members sought to initiate a recall of their own supervisor, who helped put the proposition on the ballot. Throughout 2024, many of our reporters cover issues related to homelessness and housing insecurity. In April, Madison Alvarado reported on the city's efforts to house some migrant families temporarily in hotels. In May, we published a pair of stories by Madison Alvarado and Yesica Prado - supported in part by a grant from The Carter Center - about San Francisco's complex public health response system for helping people who suffer mental health crises on the streets. Alvarado also reported on how outreach to people experiencing homelessness declined as city departments shifted their priorities, how budget cuts threatened food programs for older adults and people with disabilities, how unhoused San Franciscans can vote in elections, a ballot proposition intending to lower rents for more than 550 units designated for low-income seniors, families and people with disabilities, how an increase in encampment sweeps might make it more difficult for people experiencing homelessness to access support services, a profile of a man who struggled with homelessness for 16 years and who now works to increase civic engagement among his neighbors, and how the city of San Francisco could not show that it was following its own encampment clearing policies. Audrey Mei Yi Brown joined our newsroom in 2024 as a Report for America corps member reporting on environmental health equity and corporate accountability. Brown reported on a job training program associated with the new electrification of Bay Area ferries, efforts to do green retrofits on apartment buildings without displacing vulnerable tenants, a government program that gives air purifiers to low-income tenants, how environmental activist groups were using a new data analysis tool to identify the worst toxic sites in the Bay Area. In addition to the "Civic" episodes mentioned above, Sylvie Sturm continued reporting on the overdose crisis - a main focus of her work in 2023 - examining the success of an overdose prevention center in New York as a case study for what might have unfolded in San Francisco had the city pursued previous efforts to open such facilities. She also reported on social service providers seeking to restore Spanish-language programming in San Francisco's jails, a local lawmaker's proposal to strengthen protections for reproductive health care facilities on the receiving end of increased direct, unwanted attention and intimidation efforts from anti-abortion activists, a new mental health program for Spanish speakers that combines an app and trained support coaches from their community, and a program offering culturally attuned addiction recovery support for LGBTQ immigrants from Latin America. Freelance reporter Viji Sundaram reported on California's family courts and efforts to allow electronic recording when court reporters aren't available, efforts to help domestic violence survivors stay housed, legislation that would prevent domestic violence abusers from using apps to track their partners, and how two groups representing low-income survivors of domestic violence sued trial courts in four California counties to get them to resolve the ongoing court reporter shortage. Freelance reporter Seth Rosenfeld continued reporting on the California Public Utilities Commission's regulation of the ride-hailing industry, including a proposed ruling by a state consumer protection unit against Uber for providing substandard rides through Uber Black that was later reduced by an administrative law judge. 0 0 0 432641 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 10 0 1 10 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 X 9 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 CA X Lila LaHood 4154957377 44 Page Street Suite 504 San Francisco CA 94102 Michael Stoll Director & Secretary 20 0 X X X 27946 0 0 David Cohn President & Director 3 0 X X 0 0 0 Patricia Bovan Campbell Director 2 X 0 0 0 Lila LaHood Treasurer & Director 40 X X 0 0 0 Neal Gorenflo Director 2 X 0 0 0 Peter Scheer Director 2 X 0 0 0 Lawrence Groo Director 2 X 0 0 0 Ricardo Sandoval Palos Director 2 X 0 0 0 Jaya Padmanabhan Director 2 X 0 0 0 27946 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 560461 0 560461 ticket sales for program-related events 510000 1551 1551 0 0 0 0 0 0 1551 0 0 0 0 0 0 562012 1551 0 0 X 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 27946 27946 0 0 0 0 0 0 339409 275544 12709 51156 0 0 0 0 5150 5069 14 67 29271 24092 1079 4100 1514 1514 32773 32773 2767 2767 5020 3514 753 753 12313 8619 1847 1847 62915 44041 9437 9437 1728 576 576 576 0 0 0 0 2418 1702 358 358 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7774 5442 1166 1166 4009 3323 156 530 535007 432641 32376 69990 15487 42392 100 200 15587 42592 0 0 X 15587 42592 0 0 15587 42592 15587 42592 27005 0 0 0 0 0 X 0 0 0 X 915079 835143 791665 429984 560461 3532332 915079 835143 791665 429984 560461 3532332 1062577 2469755 0 0 720 26 27 247 1551 2571 3534903 2571 0.69868 0.99971 X Schedule A, Part II, Line 10 In 2024, this income was program related income from ticket sales. In past years, it has included syndication and event ticket sales, both of which are related to our core program. In past years, it has also occasionally included small payments, typically less than $100, from class actions against social media and technology companies. RESTRICTED RESTRICTED RESTRICTED RESTRICTED RESTRICTED RESTRICTED RESTRICTED RESTRICTED Form 990, Part VI, Section B, Line 11b A copy of the 990 is shared with board members. Their questions and feedback are invited and incorporated as needed, and amendments are filed if required. Form 990, Part VI, Section B, Line 12c The board reviews and discusses possible conflicts of interest - both real and perceived - and takes action as needed. Form 990, Part VI, Section B, Line 15 The executive director's salary is discussed annually by the board as part of the budget approval process. Members of the board research salaries for similar roles at comparable organizations, and this information is taken into consideration when the executive director's salary and organizational budget are approved. Form 990, Part VI, Section C, Line 19 Our governing documents, conflict of interest policy, and financial statements are available to the public and are provided by email upon request. Form 990, Part IX, Line 11g Payments to editorial freelancers, including reporters, editors, copy editors, fact checkers, illustrators and photographers; and to a marketing and public relations specialist for the purpose of securing editorial partnerships and promoting a major investigative reporting project. Additional time was needed to assemble documents and records necessary to file a complete and accurate Form 990.