From where we sit here in New York City, it feels like a bad month for journalism. Veteran reporters were laid off at the Daily News, the Village Voice, and the Columbia Journalism Review, and the Koch brothers are considering a bid for the Los Angeles Times and theChicago Tribune. It’s a tough reminder that what we do here at The Investigative Fund is more necessary than ever. And it’s why we need your help.

In recent months, our reporters have exposed unregulated carcinogens in popular makeup and hair products, uncovered the killing of innocent Mexican children by US Border Patrol agents, and revealed a deadly BP cover-up that endangered hundreds, possibly thousands, of Gulf Coast cleanup workers. These stories have sparked Congressional inquiries, national protests — and frantic damage control by corporate executives.

We’re committed to this kind of high-impact journalism, but we can’t do it alone.

It’s people like you, with a hunger for deep reporting, who make this work possible. That’s why we’re asking you to make a donation to The Investigative Fund today, as we kick off our annual fund drive.

As ad dollars evaporate, grassroots support from committed readers is playing a critical role in keeping meaningful reporting alive — from the halls of America’s crony-ridden capital to the frontlines of conflict zones around the world. While media outlets shut down their foreign bureaus, here at The Investigative Fund we are still sending our reporters abroad to cover the stories that need to be told.

Consider veteran international correspondent Joshua Hammer. As French troops intervened in Mali’s civil war in early 2013, we sent Joshua to uncover the roots of jihad there, resulting in a vivid portrait of Mali’s Islamists for the New York Review of Books. We sent reporters to Thailand to investigate slave labor in the fishing industry for NPR; to Slovakia to uncover severe human rights abuses of the Roma; and to Syria to expose the use of torture on the part of pro-regime forces.

A donation of $1,000 gets our reporter back inside Syria.
$500 sends a reporter into the fields of the South to uncover the abuse of child workers.
$250 pays for government documents that could expose corrupt contracting.
$50 buys a disposable phone for a confidential source.
The truth is, a gift of any amount will help us report stories that would otherwise remain hidden.

We need you. Will you support investigative journalism today?

And while you’re at it, check out our Facebook page, where we’ll be posting testimonials all month from our reporters about why The Investigative Fund matters to them — and for the field of journalism.