Dear Friend, 

The coronavirus presents an unprecedented challenge for the people of our state. Lives have been disrupted in ways unimaginable just days ago. Together with our neighbors, we’re grappling with illness, loss of income, loss of freedoms and mounting uncertainty about the days and weeks ahead. 

Our primary job at What’s Up Newp is to keep you informed about what’s happening in your community. When everyone’s health is on the line, our mission has an added weight.

Here’s what we are doing to serve you:

  • We created a special coronavirus section for our coverage related to the virus and its impacts here in Newport County; you’ll see a link to that section in the main navigation bar on our homepage.
  • We started a live blog which we are updating continuously with news about new coronavirus cases locally, closures and cancellations, updated city guidelines on preventive measures, and more. This post is permanently pinned to our homepage. 
  • We are in regular contact with public officials to track the spread of the virus and be up to speed on the latest recommendations to contain it. And we are attending press conferences — mostly remotely in order to minimize the risk of infection — to bring you the latest developments. 
  • What’s Up Newp’s “Cabin Fever Chronicles” is the place to share stories and thoughts about how you and your family are coping with restrictions from the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • We are offering our Facebook Page and Facebook Live to local business owners, musicians, and artists. There they can go live for an hour at a time and perform, entertain, and hopefully sell some merch or get some donations to carry them thru this difficult time.
  • On our Facebook Page daily at 5 pm, we’re hosting “Coping With Covid”. This is where we encourage readers to share their COVID-19 coronavirus questions and concerns – and their ideas and solutions answering the same. Issues may vary from the signs and symptoms of the COVID-19 coronavirus, to caring for sick children or adults at home, adjustments to school and work schedules, tips for working from home, child care issues, entertainment ideas, postponements and cancellations, and dealing with self-quarantine situations. We welcome your “war stories” about situations you have personally encountered that are related to the COVID-19 situation, such as travel or supply problems. If you need help in any way (someone to go to the store for you, etc) or anything else, you can also comment below or DM and we will do what we can to find you help.

Since we first reported about the first confirmed coronavirus case in Rhode Island last week, we’ve been closely monitoring this pandemic as this continues to have a direct impact on our community and state. 

We aren’t “on a clock” and we are not a corporate conglomerate. We’re not worried about overtime or investors profits, our team is working 24/7 to keep you informed and updated any time that we need, on our website, social media, and via email.

And we’re committed to providing trustworthy reporting on this topic for as long as necessary.

In a time like this, the importance of local reporting can’t be overstated. We know you rely on What’s Up Newp for this type of public-service journalism, whether it relates to public health crises, gas outages, or other pressing issues that affect your and your loved ones’ daily lives. 

We are glad to be able to provide this critical service, but we can’t do it without your support.

Our reporting is made possible by readers like you. Will you support our Newport-owned and operated newsroom by chipping in a contribution to What’s Up Newp today?

Yes, I support The Work You’re Doing

I hope I can count on you to support the local, independent online news outlet that we can’t afford to lose. 

With thanks,

Ryan Belmore

Owner, What’s Up Newp & What’s Up Rhode Island