A dark time for news media: 1,700 layoffs this year, and it's only Feb 4. Daily Kos is not immune to industry pressures and we can't let news team layoffs cede ground to Fox News. I am asking you to chip in $5 to Daily Kos so we can fight back

Friend, I'm getting sick. Last week brought more devastating losses to American media, with hundreds of layoffs from industry giants McClatchy and Vice Media. Combined with layoffs made earlier in January by Buzzfeed, Huffington Post and Gannett, more than 1,700 writers, editors and support staff have been laid off so far this year—and it's only February 4. The work these people do—investigating and chasing down leads, checking facts, writing stories, proofreading, and promoting important content to inform the American people—is absolutely critical. Trump's lies are promoted to millions by a right-wing propaganda machine led by Fox News, and working to debunk those lies and report the truth is a public service. Daily Kos has been able to survive and thrive in this media environment because of readers like you chipping in $5, $10 or $20 to support our work, but we're not immune to the pressures of digital publishing and we've been in tight spots in the past. [Independent, progressive media is more important now than ever. So please click here to chip in $5 a month to help Daily Kos keep fighting.]( [Or, if you can't contribute monthly, please here to chip in $5 one time.]( A lot will be written about why these layoffs keep coming, but it all comes down to this: Facebook and Google are crushing smaller media sites and running news publications out of business. These tech giants are promoting news content from these very sites, but have rigged the system so they keep more and more of the ad money for themselves. Something has to give, and for companies like McClatchy and many others, that meant layoffs. Daily Kos faced this problem in the past, but we have one big advantage over these other groups: We have you. We've asked our readers to help chip in to keep the site running, and to help grow it to provide new coverage of important topics like immigration and criminal justice, and you came through for us every time. It allowed us to steer clear of vulture capitalists and billionaire backers who have their own agendas, making Daily Kos the biggest independent progressive news site on the internet. [If you want to see more independent, progressive media and not less, click here to start a $5 recurring monthly donation help Daily Kos keep fighting.]( [Or, if you can't chip in monthly, please click here to chip in $5 one time.]( Thank you, Markos Moulitsas Founder and Publisher, Daily Kos If you wish to donate by mail instead, please send a check to Daily Kos, PO Box 70036, Oakland, CA, 94612. Contributions to Daily Kos are not tax deductible. Sent via [ActionNetwork.org](. To update your email address, change your name or address, or to stop receiving emails from Daily Kos, please [click here](.