Soon after the COVID-19 pandemic began to hit the Memphis area, we made all our coronavirus-related content free to read. It was an important public service as our community — and this country — grappled with an overwhelming pandemic.

News coverage in the time of COVID, protests and bubble sports

Today, in response to the surge in cases and hospitalizations locally, we again are making all coronavirus content available to all readers.

Also, as we head into election season, we will make all of our election coverage available to all readers. As a non-profit organization, we will not endorse any candidate for office. As a vital source of information for our community, we will strive to bring you the most comprehensive local election coverage.

One important note: our goal is not to tell you how to vote. Our goal is to provide you with information you can use to make an informed decision when you vote. 

Starting this week with reporter Bill Dries’ roundup of school board candidates, we will tell you who is running and where they stand on key issues.

As the coronavirus pandemic continues, we will not only bring you the latest developments, we also will increase our efforts to provide more context around the daily influx of numbers for our community and our state.

While the number of positive cases in our region is an important number, it requires important context to help readers better understand what is happening and what trends are developing here and in Tennessee.

You may remember that when the pandemic first erupted, we pushed hard and held local and state officials accountable when they refused to release important data around testing.

With coronavirus surge expected, local leaders withhold key data

We also raised concerns when local health officials refused to say how many people were hospitalized with the coronavirus.

Fortunately, that information is being released on a daily basis. And while all of us may not always agree on what data is the most relevant and important, our editors and reporters will work hard to provide the best possible context.

While we are providing this content for free — you don’t need a subscription to read it — producing this content is not free. If you are a subscriber, thank you for your support of independent local journalism. 

If you are not yet a subscriber, please consider joining our team — the largest local news source in Memphis. We want to continue our quest to show the rest of the country what the future of local journalism looks like.

Thank you for reading The Daily Memphian.