{"id":460103,"date":"2026-09-11T03:38:52","date_gmt":"2026-09-11T03:38:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/460103\/"},"modified":"2026-09-11T03:38:52","modified_gmt":"2026-09-11T03:38:52","slug":"the-frisc-to-shut-down-after-nearly-a-decade-amid-funding-shortfalls","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/460103\/","title":{"rendered":"The Frisc to shut down after nearly a decade amid funding shortfalls"},"content":{"rendered":"

A San Francisco news outlet<\/a> is shutting down after nearly a decade in business after its funding dried up.<\/p>\n

The Frisc \u2014 an independent nonprofit publication focused on San Francisco \u2014 will cease operations at the end of September after running out of money to keep publishing, founder Alex Lash told the San Francisco Standard<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have pretty much run out of money,\u201d Lash told the outlet, revealing that he\u2019s even paying for the publication\u2019s farewell party out of his own pocket.<\/p>\n

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Alex Lash said The Frisc laid off its entire staff and shut down after a cash crisis.<\/p>\n

The publication launched in 2017 after Lash and fellow journalists Anthony Lazarus and Barry Owen, along with designer Jeremy LaCroix, saw what they believed was a hole in San Francisco\u2019s local news coverage.<\/p>\n

Over the next nine years, The Frisc published hundreds of stories and gave early assignments and jobs to young reporters breaking into the city\u2019s journalism scene.<\/p>\n

From left, Jeremy Lacroix, Alex Lash, Kristi Coale, Lisa Plachy, Adam Brinklow, Taylor Barton and Ayla Burnett are pictured. <\/p>\n

Its coverage initially centered heavily on San Francisco\u2019s housing crisis before expanding into issues including homelessness, shrinking public school enrollment, public transportation and street safety.<\/p>\n

Lash left his job as national biotech editor at digital media company Xconomy in 2019 to run the publication full time.<\/p>\n

Funding became harder to secure in 2025 as The Frisc relied on donations for years, Lash told The Standard.<\/p>\n

He believes competition for a limited pool of nonprofit journalism funding intensified after federal support for public radio stations like KQED ended, with more donor money flowing to public media organizations.<\/p>\n

The Frisc\u2019s coverage initially centered heavily on San Francisco\u2019s housing crisis before expanding into issues including homelessness, shrinking public school enrollment, public transportation and street safety. Getty Images<\/p>\n

The Frisc also struggled to carve out a clearly defined place in San Francisco\u2019s increasingly crowded local media landscape.<\/p>\n

The publication stopped endorsing political candidates after becoming a nonprofit but continued to champion denser, more affordable housing and policies to improve safety for pedestrians and cyclists.<\/p>\n

Lash resisted placing a firm political label on the publication but acknowledged that its outlook could broadly be described as \u201curbanist.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf people think that that belief in more housing and a denser city is a YIMBY thing, we can\u2019t stop them from putting labels on us,\u201d he told The Standard.<\/p>\n

The closure comes as San Francisco has seen a rise in local news organizations in recent years, with The Frisc folding as it neared its 10th anniversary.<\/p>\n

Senior editor Lisa Plachy, who joined The Frisc in 2024 while attending UC Berkeley\u2019s Graduate School of Journalism, told The Standard the shutdown left her deeply saddened for the publication and its team.<\/p>\n

The publication stopped endorsing political candidates after becoming a nonprofit but continued to champion denser, more affordable housing and policies to improve safety for pedestrians and cyclists. Getty Images<\/p>\n

The outlet also endured a major loss in 2020, when co-founder Owen died of pancreatic cancer. Lash credited Owen with encouraging The Frisc to balance its coverage of the city\u2019s problems with stories celebrating San Francisco and its public spaces.<\/p>\n

Lazarus stepped away from the project in 2024 and has since left journalism.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Lash plans to take several weeks off following the closure before beginning his search for another journalism job.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the best of times, nonprofit media is no easy lift,\u201d Lash wrote in announcing the closure Wednesday. \u201cThese are not the best of times.\u201d<\/p>\n

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