At the heart of journalism

Every week, PGN’s pages are consumed with COVID-19. Our lives have dramatically changed, and systematic failures have been brought to light. This week, PGN received one of 400 local newsroom grants from the Facebook Journalism Project to report on the new coronavirus. Run in partnership with Lenfest Institute for Journalism and Local Media Association, we’ve received $5,000 to continue our reporting, centering the LGBTQ community. During this time, we are never at a shortage of news. We have to think about our community’s mental and physical health, those folks who are incarcerated and our seniors. We need to work closely with FIGHT, Mazzoni and Valley Youth House to make sure our readers know where they can go for treatment. We need to decipher fact from fiction. While isolated in my home, I am on daily Zoom conferences with local LGBTQ leaders about strategic steps to protect our community and give aid when possible. We have to look out for those of us who are the most vulnerable. I have cried on phone and video conversations when speaking honestly about this pandemic, and I have heard and witnessed many tears shed. We cry for one another, not ourselves, and we keep moving forward. While we are all impacted, some of our community members are impacted more, like those without shelter, survival sex workers, food and delivery service employees, those who have been laid off, seniors, health care workers, performers, queer and trans folks of color — who before coronavirus faced more inequity — and others. If you have funds, give those funds. If you have a unique perspective, pen an op-ed. Stay inside. Stay well. Continue to follow CDC guidelines, and continue to stay informed. We, at PGN, will continue to keep you informed, and you — as individuals and as humans — will continue to be at the front of our minds as we deliver the news.

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