YES! Media to Sunset, Rising Up Going Independent
About one and a half years after the debut of YES! Presents: Rising Up With Sonali, we are sad to announce that YES! Media, the official sponsor of this program, is closing down its doors.
When Rising Up host Sonali Kolhatkar joined YES! as racial justice editor in summer 2021, she brought with her the radio and television show Rising Up With Sonali, in the hopes that YES! would adopt it. In September 2023, YES! Presents: Rising Up With Sonali debuted, newly configured toward solutions journalism in line with YES!’s ethos.
In light of YES! Media coming to an end, it’s time to take Rising Up With Sonali independent.
Our nation’s model of funding independent journalism is badly broken. We can no longer rely on foundational support or individual donations. Too many outlets have shuttered or are constantly struggling to survive, even as our democracy teeters, needing solid journalism more than ever. It’s time to ask those who consume journalistic content to pay a small fee for it, and plenty of incredible independent journalists are doing just that, successfully.
What if thousands of people contributed just a $4 out of their bank accounts once a month to sustain their favorite journalist? That’s all it would take—less than a cup of Starbucks dark roast every 30 days.
Rising Up With Sonali is syndicated to dozens of independent community radio stations nationwide. The TV version airs on Free Speech TV (Dish Network, DirecTV, Roku, Sling), and the audio podcast is carried on Spotify and Apple Music. With your support, we can continue producing this broadcast.