The Frisc, a nonprofit San Francisco news site with a focus on civic news and a particular bent towards housing, will shutter after nearly 10 years.
“In the best of times,” its editor-in-chief and co-founder Alex Lash wrote on Wednesday, “nonprofit media is no easy lift. These are not the best of times.” Lash wrote that the site will publish “a couple more stories” but then close operations at the end of September. He cited financial difficulties.
“Even with generous and loyal supporters, we don’t see a path to long-term sustainability,” Lash wrote.
The Frisc began publishing in spring 2017 and, since then, grew to cover housing, education, transit, city government and the environment. It said it was “dedicated not just to exposing and explaining” the city’s problems, “but also highlighting solutions.” It got started at the height of San Francisco’s anti-gentrification battles and during the ascendence of YIMBY politics, and deep reporting on housing was a core part of its mission from the beginning.
At its height, the site employed a combined total of six regular contributing reporters and full time staff and routinely published three or more stories a week.
Lash said the site started as an experiment between four friends to make a difference in a city they were passionate, and turned into the best job he has ever had. He was crestfallen when speaking with his team about closing.
“It’s been a few weeks since we made the decision,” said Lash. “It was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done.”
The lack of a stable source of funding was the death knell, he said.
“We could keep going six or 12 months, but the writing was on the wall,” he said. “Without corporate backers or a billionaire or a great fundraising team, it’s a long slog.”
Lash particularly highlighted his pride in supporting new reporters looking to break into the industry.
The Frisc won two awards from the Society of Professional Journalists NorCal chapter in 2025. Regular freelance writer Ida Mojadad was one of the recipients — she was recognized for her work on covering San Francisco public schools, and said the loss of The Frisc meant a less informed city.
“It felt like you got the full record of what was going on,” said Mojadad. “If you wanted to know about one particular issue, you could get the complete history or scope in a Frisc story.”
Regular freelance contributor Ayla Burnett received the “Best Feature” award last year for her reporting on a Bayview single mother navigating the city’s housing system. Burnett said she began to tear up as she heard about the closure.
“It was deeply meaningful to me,” said Burnett of her time at the paper. She feared The Frisc’s demise was indicative of “how people consume news, away from in-depth and analytical reporting.”
The Frisc is only the latest closure in a declining industry.
A 2025 study by Northwestern University found that 2,843 local papers closed between 2005 and 2025 — a fall from 7,325 to 4,482. The Bureau of Labor Statistics credits the decline to a loss of advertising, and consolidation among those that remain.
SF Weekly — San Francisco’s last alternative weekly — was the last major outlet to shutter in the city: It announced in 2021 an “indefinite hiatus” so its owner could shift resources to the San Francisco Examiner. That hiatus is ongoing.
The two papers had been bought as a package the previous year by since-departed real estate investor Clint Reilly.
Lash, for his part, is looking forward to spending more time with family, and enjoying a long weekend or vacation without his laptop. He is not looking back. “I don’t regret a minute of it.”
For readers and supporters, the paper is urging people to celebrate The Frisc’s legacy instead of mourning it. Its last hurrah will be at the Mariposa Hunters Point Yacht Club at 7 p.m. on Oct. 2, where karaoke, dancing, and trivia will mark the newsroom’s end.
