In June 2024, Spotlight Delaware Deputy Editor Karl Baker got a tip about the alleged mishandling of millions of dollars in drug abuse prevention funding by a state commission.
Fast forward a year, give or take, and the state has revamped its process for disbursing and monitoring use of the Prescription Opioid Settlement funds.
If not for Spotlight Delaware, the story would not have been told, the agency would not have been held to account, and the grant dollars still might be going to the wrong places. Instead, the money is now going where it was intended – to drug prevention and recovery services.
This is just one example of Spotlight Delaware’s impact since we launched less than two years ago. In addition, if not for Spotlight Delaware:
- MeadowWood Behavioral Health in New Castle would not have been exposed for its neglectful treatment of patients and fined by the state.
- The Sussex County Democratic Party chairman, a convicted pedophile, would likely still be in office.
- DelDOT would not be conducting an investigation into a taxpayer-funded land deal that turned a million-dollar profit for a state employee’s business partner.
- The Camden Police Department would still be quietly partnering with ICE.
- Sussex County survivors of Earl Bradley would not have had a place to tell their stories.
- Conversations would have been less robust about issues including SB21, homelessness, property tax reassessments and the local impact of federal immigration activities.
At Spotlight Delaware, we are working to keep Delawareans informed, hold power to account and provide the information our communities need to have nuanced, productive conversations about complex issues.
While Spotlight started as an idea at a kitchen table, we are now — less than two years sine launch — a robust newsroom, with nine highly skilled and dedicated full-time reporters and editors. Our team publishes original local news and information six days a week, produces podcasts and vertical videos, hosts events and public forums, and even provides community members with local information one-on-one.
Under our second brand, Spotlight Delaware en Español, we also engage deeply with the Spanish-speaking community and strive to address its unique needs for local news and information.
We’re proud of this work, and we’re proudest when we hear feedback from you, our readers, about how we’ve become an integral part of your lives:
What Spotlight Delaware is reporting touches many a nerve. And very important.
This is powerful, engaging work.
The expanded coverage that Spotlight Delaware is providing for news from Kent and Sussex counties is outstanding.
You’re actually educating the public on things.
These are just a handful of comments from readers like you that have come to us in the last six months, and it emboldens our drive to continue stretching further and investing in the high-quality, free-to-access news that Delaware deserves.
As we come to the end of 2025, we wanted to say thank you to those who have supported our work, either by making a tax-deductible donation, attending a Spotlight Delaware event or sharing our newsletter.
Each of those actions helps to ensure that our mission to serve Delawareans lasts for generations to come.
So thank you for a great first two years. Here’s to many more to come.