"100% READER
SUPPORTED," WHO CAN SAY THAT? Who can really say that they respond only to the
public? Who can say that they do not depend on a middle man for funding? Who can
say that their ultimate responsibility is to the community they serve? Reader
Supported News, it's never been done before. We - all of us - are doing it. We
need your support, we love needing your support. Sincerely. / Marc Ash -
Founder, Reader Supported News
Hall writes: "How optimistic should we be that the vast majority of Americans will contribute their money, their time, their energy, and their determination to Senator Sanders' campaign to restore our form of government, the society we expect that form of government to create, and maybe, just maybe, the health of our planet, when we can't even support the news organization we rely upon?"
Tear gas rains down on a woman kneeling in the street after a demonstration in Ferguson on August 17, 2014. (photo: Scott Olsen/Getty Images)
This Is What Democracy Is About
07 May 15
his letter was in my mailbox this evening, and probably in yours, too:Why RSN Chooses to Rely on Public Funding
We will start our May fundraising drive tomorrow so it's an appropriate time to talk about why we chose public funding (Reader Support) rather than rely on commercial advertising revenue.
There is no doubt that, with our readership, we could make more money by accepting advertising than by surviving on donations alone. If it were just about "making money," that would be easy. But it's not just about making money. It's about our future, about the future of the community we serve, and about change for the better.
This community-based news agency that we have all built, Reader Supported News, does not have the muscle of the larger commercial news organizations, but power does not come from muscle alone. Great power can come from participation, and community involvement. That's what we get from our Reader Supporters.
By turning down the advertisers, we travel down a harder economic path. Consequently, we have to work harder to raise our budget. Don't be alarmed by the urgency. We live in urgent times.
Let's raise a budget for RSN. Let's do it our way.
Thank you all sincerely.
Marc Ash
Founder, Reader Supported News
"Great power can come from participation, and community involvement." Of course it can!
Lately, we Readers have been discussing the ramifications of the upcoming election. Senator Bernie Sanders has given the campaign an entirely new face. Many of us have said he looks like our last, best hope to restore some semblance of our peculiar, American-style Constitutional government.
We've all agreed that if his campaign is to succeed, the vast majority of Americans will need to pay the expenses of his campaign, campaign for him, and herd everyone we can to the polls for the primary elections, then do it all again for next November's election.
Yet Marc Ash has had to write, probably to each one of us, to beg us to remember that RSN is supported solely by us.
We read RSN all the time. Some of us have been reading RSN since its inception, and Truthout before that time. But Marc Ash STILL has had to write to us, reminding us that WE pay the bills for this news service.
How optimistic should we be that the vast majority of Americans will contribute their money, their time, their energy, and their determination to Senator Sanders' campaign to restore our form of government, the society we expect that form of government to create, and maybe, just maybe, the health of our planet, when we can't even support the news organization we rely upon?
People, participatory Democracy depends upon PARTICIPATION. If you're reading this and have not yet contributed to RSN, please do so at once. If you still read Truthout, contribute to its operation, too. If you read Move On, or any of several other news sites funded solely by private funds -- OUR funds -- please step up to the plate and toss in some money to help defray their operating expenses.
They have to eat regularly, too, and probably enjoy the habit of sleeping indoors. They need salaries. They probably work with lights on; they certainly work on electronic devices that, at some point, must be plugged into the electric supply grid. Their offices have to be heated or cooled, according to the season, and they must be cleaned, and insured, and supplied with things like toilet paper and hand soap. Just imagine their bills for vehicle fuel!
If those of us who trust and rely upon privately-funded news organizations aren't even willing to chip in to run those organizations, we haven't a snowball's chance in hell of getting Senator Bernie Sanders elected.
If everyone who reads RSN, or any of the other privately funded news organizations, would commit to a measly $5.00 per month contribution, all of them could stop struggling to raise money and go about their real jobs, which is telling us what's going on in Washington, in the 50 state legislatures and governor's mansions, and in the rest of the world.
If everyone who reads any of the privately supported news reporters would contribute a paltry $5.00 per month to Senator Sanders' campaign, he'd have a shot at getting out his comments about how dire our situation is, how close to being eradicated the freedoms provided by our Constitution are, and how desperate the condition of our planet is. If he can get his message to every American, he stands a chance of being elected our next President.
Do you see the connection?
We got into this fix because we stopped paying attention, getting involved, speaking up, and supporting the things we believe in with our time, energy, money, and whole-hearted, solemn, unwavering commitment.
Being a good citizen means paying more attention to public affairs than to texting our pals, buying the latest video device, and having a smart phone. It means doing our duty and meeting our responsibilities.
All of this may sound very corny and very old-fashioned, but it's all that will work.
What are you waiting for? Are you in?
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