The website of the SF Bay View newspaper was recently attacked by hackers, it is now back up. The newspaper is one of the best in the US and isn't afraid to tackle tough stories on tough issues. It has been named "National Black Newspaper of the year."

Here is a letter from the editor to readers:

No, the Bay View is not dead. Wounded - but still very much alive and kicking.

Yes, our website, www.sfbayview.com, is still down. It had grown popular beyond our wildest dreams - to around 2 million hits a month - but apparently not all the folks who hit us up liked what they read.

There's now good evidence that we've been hacked by a very sophisticated hacker. A few days ago, our server was taken down - and it stayed down for 26 hours. The server rep says they've never been hit so hard, that recovery time in the past has never been more than about three hours.

But help is here. Bay View webmaster Terone Ward put out a call to web savvy people around the world, and a team from South America is now working with him to repair our site and make it as invulnerable as possible. Anyone with helpful suggestions is welcome to email teroneward@sfbayview.com.

At a time when so much is wrong in the world and heroic resistance is on the rise, we're flooded with crucial news and views that nobody else will publish. How frustrating to be limited to the printed Bay View paper! We're deeply grateful, though, to you who have enabled us to keep publishing in print during our ongoing financial crisis.