About this project

• Giving a voice to Baltimore’s voiceless through coverage of the workers at the Sparrows Point steel mill and residents of impoverished neighborhoods in one of America’s poorest cities.
  
• Holding city and other officials accountable by reporting on deals with favored contractors, tax breaks for big political contributors and regulatory concessions to major industries.
  
• Creating a forum for city planners and visionaries to re-imagine Baltimore, helping ensure that in the future it can provide the jobs and neighborhoods its residents need – without resorting to tax gimmicks and giveaways.
  

Now we want to expand the Brew’s coverage of the city’s spending practices and tax breaks, to make sure Baltimore uses its scarce resources for programs that benefit its people and not the politically-connected. And we want to make the Brew sustainable by tapping new income streams and eventually paying salaries.  We plan to do this by:

• Expanding coverage to include online video and podcasts.
• Creating more interactive features with readers.
• Publishing special food, culture and lifestyle pages.
• Expanding school and neighborhood coverage.

So far, we’ve kept the Brew percolating with tens of thousands of dollars’ worth of donated time. With a bare-bones budget, we’ve broken stories, shaped the civic conversation and modeled a new kind of local media.