Oakland Report is 70% toward our goal
We have raised $35,000 toward our $50,000 fundraising goal — our heartfelt thanks to all who have donated so far. Help us get the rest of the way! Donate to support our nonprofit work.
Become a supporting member of Oakland Report
We are 100% supported by you.
Oakland Report accepts no advertising or “sponsored content.” We rely on you, our readers, for financial support to produce deep-dive analysis and unbiased reporting on issues important to you — like our comprehensive parcel tax study, Broken Promises: Oakland’s Measure E.
And we’ve only just begun.
Last month we announced a $50,000 fundraising goal for summer 2026. And we’re thrilled to report that we’re already 70% to our goal. You can help us get the rest of the way.
Join us as a supporting member to help Oakland Report continue and grow.
As a supporting member, you will receive our exclusive new Oakland Beat newsletter, invitations to members-only events, and our everlasting gratitude to you, our readers who want Oakland to be better — a thriving community of thoughtful, civic-minded readers that you helped us build.
Donate now. Your one-time or monthly recurring donation helps Oakland Report continue our 501(c)(3) charitable nonprofit work.
An experiment in a new form of media
Oakland Report is an experiment in a new form of media — focused on evidence, reason, and unflinching analysis of issues that affect our lives, and the city we love.
We present the facts — even the uncomfortable ones — and let our readers decide what to think about them.
Founded in 2023, our nonprofit mission is to provide reasoned, fact-based, well-sourced reporting and analysis on local government issues, led by observable and verifiable evidence free from implicit bias.
Oakland, the soon-to-be greatest city in the world, deserves nothing less.
We are 100% supported by readers like you. Donate to support our nonprofit work.
We’re moving to a new, better platform
We’re planning a big move to a new online platform! We’ve outgrown our starter home on Substack, and we need more room to grow into the leading source for unbiased news and analysis in Oakland. (We will retain our Substack archive after the move.)
We need your help to make a seamless transition to our new platform. In the days and weeks ahead, we’ll be updating our subscriber list to prepare for the move.
Please be on the lookout for a message from us asking to confirm your contact information.
Keep in touch! Let us know that we have your correct contact information so we can reach you after the move.
We never disclose or share our subscribers’ data with anyone else.
Donation acknowledgments
If you have already donated to Oakland Report — thank you! We are preparing to send each of you an individual note of thanks and a summary of your donations since January 1, 2026.
We never disclose or share our donors’ information. (Individual gifts of $5,000 or more are disclosed on our nonprofit tax filings, as required by law.)
We are a registered 501(c)(3) charitable nonprofit organization (Citizens Oakland, federal tax ID #99-4577680). Your gifts are tax-deductible.
Stay tuned for an invitation to our next donor appreciation event, tentatively scheduled in August!
Up next: a busy summer
Become a supporting member today and you will receive our new Oakland Beat newsletter — a monthly roundup of exclusive reports, commentaries, deep-dive data and inside information on issues that matter, grounded in the evidence and facts that you have come to expect from Oakland Report.
Here are just a few of the items we have in store for you this summer:
Look out, Oakland! Public employee unions are coming to your door — and reaching into your wallet (again).
Oakland Unified School District is on the brink of disaster. Why does it matter? Oakland public schools are instrumental to Oakland’s success whether one has children or not.
The real reason why CalTrans wants to open Interstate 580 to heavy trucks.
Data deep-dive: Oakland’s many, many nonprofit contractors — where is all that money going, and what is it doing?
Why are so many downtown businesses still boarded up, and what can we do about it?
What is up with paying for sidewalk repairs in front of my property — isn’t that the city’s job?
Oakland ‘leaders’ scrapbook: portraits of our elected officials and candidates — with no touchups.
…and much more.
Never fear — we will continue to produce our high-quality flagship Oakland Report as always, with no paywalls and no donation necessary. In fact, we plan to ramp up production of Oakland Report this summer, as noted above.
In order to achieve our mission and fully restore accountability media in The Town, we need your support. One hundred percent of your donation is applied toward Oakland Report daily operations — including our new student interns from The Daily Californian newspaper at UC Berkeley.
If you have already donated recently: thank you!
Become a supporting member today to receive our Oakland Beat newsletter straight to your inbox. Starting at $8 per month ($96 per year); get additional members-only benefits for greater giving. Your gift is tax-deductible.
Check out a sample of Oakland Beat
About us
Oakland Report is an experiment in a new form of media.
Our mission is to provide reasoned, fact-based, well-sourced reporting and analysis on local government issues in Oakland, California and the surrounding region.
We achieve our mission through producing our nonprofit, independent, citizen-led media outlet, Oakland Report, focused on observable and verifiable evidence free from implicit bias.
We seek integrity, accessibility, and quality in the articles we publish. We seek truth.
Our guiding principles:
Present the facts and evidence and let the reader judge for themselves.
Focus on what people and organizations do, not what they say.
Always remain open to examining and questioning our own biases.
We don’t expect everyone to agree with everything that we publish, but we do expect that the articles are grounded in verifiable evidence and logic so that all observations and conclusions may be rationally challenged.
We started Oakland Report as a volunteer endeavor in 2023 to fill a critical gap in local independent media by producing high-quality, unbiased, unflinching articles by and for the citizens of Oakland and neighboring communities.
A year later, we formed Citizens Oakland, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization to support and continue our work to publish Oakland Report.
Our extended team includes a scientist, a librarian, physicians, journalists, attorneys, technology executives, housing providers and media personalities — all from Oakland, and all deeply committed to helping Oakland achieve its true potential as a world-class city.
We aim to sustain the Oakland Report experiment with no advertisements, “advertorials,” or sponsored content. This is to avoid the conflicts of interest that inevitably arise when needed financial support is tied to such interests.
We strongly believe in and support private enterprise and the essential role it plays in contributing to a thriving community for all. But our work requires independence in order to be successful. We seek to avoid the incentives other media outlets have to publish content that only tells influential people and organizations what they want to hear.
The ghost of civic accountability journalism still haunts the old Oakland Tribune tower — and one day, we aim to move back in and bring it to life once more.
We rely on you, our readers and supporters, to financially support our work. Help us continue and grow Oakland Report by giving a tax-deductible donation today:
Thank you.
— The Oakland Report editorial board
Video Clip 1. Oakland Report managing editor Sean Reinhart talks with local television station KTVU about Oakland’s many taxes on April 17, 2026. Our thanks and appreciation to news anchor Andre Senior and KTVU for having us on their Take 2 in the Morning show. Video courtesy of KTVU.
ABOUT THE EDITOR
Sean S. Reinhart is a former library director, now retired after 26 years in local government. He served as library and community services director for the cities of Hayward and Menlo Park for a combined 16 years, where he helped build Hayward’s new main library and Menlo Park’s new multi-service community center. His post-retirement endeavors include serving as the managing editor of Oakland Report.
Sean and his family have lived in Oakland for 15 years. He grew up in nearby Hayward. Sean enjoys exploring California’s world-renowned coastline, valleys, deserts and mountains. His creative pursuits include writing, printmaking, carpentry, music and visual arts. He enjoys meeting new people, reading, hiking, gardening, and spending time with his family.
