About Us
BALTIMORE BREW is an independent daily news website, staffed by veteran journalists committed to providing fresh, fair, insightful and reliable reporting about Baltimore.
Reporting that uncovers cronyism, mismanagement, waste and abuse . . . Analysis that cuts through the bureaucratic blah-blah and spin. . . Community coverage that empowers and connects people in a divided city.
That’s what you’ll find in Baltimore Brew – along with writing that makes you feel like you’ve just tuned in to a strong signal after a cloud of static.
A fixture in Baltimore since 2010, The Brew specializes in aggressive accountability reporting – we look at campaign cash, development deals, government spending, city services and more.
Our reporting takes us beyond City Hall to city streets, including the city’s most neglected neighborhoods and vulnerable people.
Justice, jobs, housing, economic development, the environment, education, youth, transportation, architecture, preservation, urban design, neighborhood conflicts over development and liquor issues – all these and more get coverage from The Brew.
We also publish commentary from people with special expertise and perspectives that deserve to be part of the civic conversation.
OUR MISSION is to bring transparency and accountability to powerful governmental and corporate institutions and to cover issues that matter to all neighborhoods in the city.
Open-eyed and big-hearted journalism can shake up conventional wisdom and shine a light on ingrained and institutionalized attitudes and policies – that’s part of our mission too.
Along the way, we try to spotlight the neighborhood leaders and lively personalities who make this city, in spite of its massive challenges, a great place to live.
Baltimore Brew, as our legion of fans will attest, is Baltimore’s one-of-a-kind source for the kind of independent and fierce watchdog reporting our city needs now more than ever.
OUR FINANCIAL SUPPORT comes from reader-members, foundations and advertiser-sponsors.
The Brew receives support from readers who appreciate our unique brand of accountability journalism and generally contribute through this link on the site. In 2012, we made a special push with a Kickstarter campaign that brought in nearly $25,000, primarily from small donors. This year we launched a membership campaign via IndieGoGo which raised over $20,000 and brought in hundreds of new members.
FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE is important to us. We disclose all donors who have given more than $1,000. These are, so far: Joanne Hall and Mark Reutter. We also have received support of more than $1,000 from two local foundations, The Abell Foundation and The Robert W. Deutsch Foundation.
Baltimore Brew is an LLC which partners with a Baltimore-based fiscal sponsor, Fusion Partnerships. Fusion ensures our social justice mission and allows supporters to make tax-deductible contributions toward our work. Find out more here.
EDITORIAL INDEPENDENCE goes without saying but we’ll say it just to be clear:
The individuals, foundations and sponsors who give us money are supporting civic engagement, informed discourse and great reporting. Financial supporters do not influence our reporting. Our editorial decisions are driven by good journalism and nothing else.
OUR EDITORS: Former Washington Post reporter Fern Shen and author, investigative journalist and former Baltimore Sun reporter Mark Reutter
OUR CONTRIBUTORS are great area journalists, photographers and plugged-in people who live in and care about Baltimore.
CONTACT:
FERN SHEN, founder/publisher/editor fern.shen@baltimorebrew.com 410-802-4990
MARK REUTTER, senior editor and reporter reuttermark@yahoo.com 443-797-2914
Mailing address: PO Box 5626, Baltimore, MD 21210