Submit a News Tip

Dismal Freedom Press investigates public agencies, institutions, and powerful interests that affect everyday life in the Central Valley and East Bay. If you have information about government misconduct, public records being withheld, misuse of public funds, or any other matter of public concern — we want to hear from you.

How to Reach Us

Email: newsroom@dismalfreedompress.org Phone: (209) 425-2677

For sensitive tips, we recommend sending email from a personal account not connected to your employer, or calling from a personal phone. If you need to communicate with greater anonymity, contact us by email first and we will arrange a more secure channel.

What to Include

The more context you provide, the faster we can evaluate your tip. Helpful information includes:

• What happened, and when

• Which agency, official, or institution is involved

• Whether you have documents, emails, or other records

• Whether you are willing to speak on the record, on background, or anonymously

• Whether there is a time-sensitive element to the story

Source Protections

We take source confidentiality seriously. We will not publish your name or identifying information without your explicit consent. If you ask to remain anonymous, we honor that request and describe your role only in general terms that cannot identify you.

We cannot guarantee that communications are protected from legal process in all circumstances, but we take reasonable steps to protect source information and will consult legal counsel before disclosing any source information under legal pressure.

What Happens Next

We review every tip we receive. We will acknowledge receipt and follow up if we decide to pursue the story. Not every tip leads to a published story — some cannot be verified, and some fall outside our current coverage capacity — but we read everything and every tip helps us understand our community better.