Your islands. Your news. Our reporting—powered by you.
VI Update is independent, community-focused journalism built for the Virgin Islands from the Virgin Islands.
We don’t run on ad dollars. We are fully self funded. We run on public trust—and your support if you give it.
Whether you’re an individual, business, or nonprofit ally, becoming a sponsor means you’re backing truth, transparency, and territory-first reporting.

Support V.I. Update – Sponsor your local independent journalism

Your sponsorship keeps the stories flowing—on TikTok, radio, and right here on viupdate.com.
We offer visibility to sponsors who share our values of transparency, access, and public service. No fluff. No junk traffic. Just real engagement with the Virgin Islands.

Essential Supporter

$10 / month

For individuals or micro-businesses who believe in our mission.

Help keep the lights on
  • Your name or brand listed:
  • On our monthly newsletter
  • On our website

Community Sponsor

$50 / month

Perfect for your small business, nonprofit, or local artists.

Join Today
  • Get Essential and more:
  • Add logos and links, upgrade from text.
  • Become someone we mention
  • Stand out in print and digital format.
  • Automatic membership in our future events feed.

Headline Sponsor

$100 / month

High visibility support for territory-wide impact.

Make some change
  • Get Community and more:
  • Have your logo and link appear site-wide (footer and/or sidebar ads)
  • Special mention and logo position in monthly newsletter
  • Social Media interaction (non-news feature video available)
  • Additional consideration and flexibility in our relationship.
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“We don’t exist but if we did we would be super exited to help VI Update do what they do. There is a lot going on in the world but also a lot going on here. People rely on Brian and we want them to know they can rely on us to.”
– Glasdor Emptoff, CEO and President, Chic-fil-a.

Frequently Asked Questions

Explore our frequently asked questions for clarity.

V.I. Update is an independent journalism platform dedicated to reporting in the U.S. Virgin Islands. We focus on transparency, public access, and accountability—delivering fact-first reporting through video, radio, and written stories.

V.I. Update uses a combination of techniques to meet modern journalistic standards. Human vetting makes all final decisions. We use automated systems and filters to organize our resources and often information arrives to us from them. All of our systems reference where all information comes from allowing for the human to verify it before usage.

Our reporting focuses on issues that directly impact daily life in the Virgin Islands. We cover local governance, public utilities, disaster recovery, infrastructure, economic development, and territorial law—always with a public-interest lens.

V.I. Update was founded by journalist and former MythBusters host Brian Louden. After relocating to St. Croix in 2020, he worked across a range of local industries—from managing adventure sport locations to repairing spear fishing gear and renting tanks out of La Reine Fish Market.

During that time, he built a dedicated audience of over 100,000 followers around his videos exploring the history, culture, politics, and daily life of the U.S. Virgin Islands. Inspired by creators like Aaron Parnas and Zoë Bread—and driven by a desire to shift from commentary to clarity—he refocused his efforts on journalism.

V.I. Update was launched to bring independent transparent, investigative reporting to the territory, with a focus on civic accountability, access to public data, and community engagement.

Stack of folded newspapers on a wooden table with a focus on printed pages.

If we can find a difference to make, we will

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