The Sick Times, the nonprofit newsroom focused on Long Covid and the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, is excited to announce it has received an award of $250,000 from the biotech giving fund Kanro. This grant will fund the organization’s general operations over the next 18 months, enabling its expansion to a larger newsroom.
Kanro, along with the Balvi fund — both established by Vitalik Buterin, the co-creator of Ethereum — has supported high-impact research into Long Covid and related chronic diseases by organizations such as the PolyBio Research Foundation and the Patient-Led Research Collaborative. The Sick Times is excited to be a recipient of these funds’ commitments to addressing the Long Covid crisis through research and communications.
This grant will increase The Sick Times’ capacity to cover scientific advancements, health issues, policy, and advocacy around Long Covid, Covid-19, and related chronic diseases both in the U.S. and globally. In keeping with The Sick Times and Kanro’s mutual value of open access, all stories will be shared freely, without paywalls, and made available in the public domain for other news outlets to republish.
The budget for this grant includes:
- $144,000 to pay part-time staff, including founding editors Betsy Ladyzhets and Miles Griffis (who were volunteers for the first several months of this publication’s operations) and two new team members who will take on audience engagement and production of a weekly podcast;
- $72,000 to pay freelance writers, editors, and photographers contributing stories from around the world;
- $9,000 to support the publication’s website and distribution channels, as well as tools and resources used in reporting stories;
- $25,000 for a fiscal sponsor fee.
As noted in The Sick Times’ editorial policies, the newsroom retains independence from Kanro and other financial supporters. This is an independent journalism outlet, not a public relations or advocacy organization. Donors do not have any influence as to which stories are covered or how they are reported, written, and edited — and that includes any coverage of scientists or scientific institutions that share our funding sources.
The Sick Times’ editors are excited to get started with expanding our coverage, especially beyond the U.S. Journalists and writers interested in contributing reported articles and essays, look out for a follow-up announcement in the coming weeks about how to pitch us!
About The Sick Times: The Sick Times is a nonprofit news website chronicling the Long Covid crisis, founded by journalists Betsy Ladyzhets and Miles Griffis. We report on the common, life-changing disease following Covid-19 infection that affects millions worldwide and can be fatal. Our coverage spans related infection-associated chronic conditions such as myalgic encephalomyelitis, dysautonomia, mast cell activation syndrome, and more. We also continue to report on other impacts of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.
Contact: editors@thesicktimes.org
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