Hello, This is another ZNet free update.
Today we are writing you in hopes of helping out another organization that is now in dire straits, The NewStandard (TNS). Today is TNS's 2nd birthday online, so we thought it an appropriate time to pass along this note. We think it is important that they have a third birthday... TNS publishes a number of original hard-news articles 5 days a week. TNS is one of the very few US-based news projects that emphasizes coverage of civil liberties, labor issues, immigration, indigenous concerns, poverty and so many other important topics. TNS financially supports truly independent journalists who don't have to fear corporate interference with their reporting. TNS is a participatory economics institution which pays according to effort/sacrifice which employs collective process and balanced job complexes. And finally, to ensure its internal integrity and future, TNS is a 100% reader-funded nonprofit organization -- on principle, they accept no money from investors, advertisers, foundations or anyone else that attaches strings to their support. The situation is not just that TNS needs help in order to become the kind of news organization that can penetrate the mainstream and challenge the corporate news media. It is that TNS needs help, now, in order to survive. TNS is an example of a few people marshalling massive amounts of personal energy and creativity to the cause of developing productive, essential, movement infrastructure. I obviously wish all such projects success. We all do. But sometimes one comes along that is even more worthy than many others, due to special conditions and circumstances. TNS is such a case. It is exemplary internally in its structure and policies, it is exemplary externally in its outward relations, and it provides a "product" that is desperately needed. Moreover, TNS operates incredibly efficiently in wasting no effort, no labor, no funds. Throughout the universe of people committed to creating better times in the U.S. there is a general agreement on the need for news, for real news, for alternative news, and on the need for infrastructure that is worthy and viable. TNS provides both. Regretably, however, it is very hard for that universe of people to simultaneously see clear to support a project. We are fragmented. We do not know each other's inclinations. We all most often act like atoms, without connection to each other, and atomistic donations made one by one seem so hopeless - so we often don't donate. This message to ZNet users hopes to overcome that problem, at least now, at least for TNS. We are simultaneously addressing a large enough group so that you can all know that if you act, then others will have acted too, and the result will be a proud success. Like ZNet, The NewStandard needs recurring donors so it can know generally how much revenue it can expect from month to month. So please consider joining as what they call a Premium Member -- the best way to help TNS at this critical juncture. So, please click over to http://newstandardnews.net and become a member. You will gain new information and knowledge and help others do likewise. It is a fine way to start a new year. And, as further incentive, here is what some other folks who support both ZNet and TNS have had to say about The NewStandard: Noam Chomsky: It is hard to exaggerate the significance these days of independent, careful, probing and thoughtful news reporting. The NewStandard has set a very high standard in that regard. It has already won an important place among those who want to understand the world, and to act to change it. And the prospects ahead are exciting. I hope you will join in helping The NewStandard achieve these critically important goals. Naomi Klein: In a medium awash with opinion, The NewStandard is doing something all too rare: proving it. Its writers back up their commitment to social and economic justice with rock-solid, on-the-ground reporting. Journalism of this high quality takes real resources. Let's give The NewStandard the support it needs to take this crucial project to the next level. Robert Jensen: Aggressive new ventures such as The NewStandard are of vital importance. The journalists reporting and editing the news at TNS -- operating with a fraction of the resources -- put their so-called elite journalistic competitors to shame. It's vital that we support this effort so that they can continue -- and expand -- their crucial work. A contribution to The NewStandard is an investment not only in their project but in the health of our democracy. And here is just a small sample of TNS's recent original reporting. 'Worker Centers' Pick Up Where Unions, Govt. Leave Off by Michelle Chen http://newstandardnews.net/content/index.cfm/items/2720 Chicago Turns Down Discounted Venezuelan Oil by Jessica Pupovac http://newstandardnews.net/content/index.cfm/items/2710 McDonald's on Tip-toes with Newly Empowered Farmworkers by Kari Lydersen http://newstandardnews.net/content/index.cfm/items/2674 Threatened New Orleans Tenants Fight Evictions Scourge by Jessica Azulay http://newstandardnews.net/content/index.cfm/items/2630 Critics Question Senate's Supposed 'Anti-torture' Stance by Michelle Chen http://newstandardnews.net/content/index.cfm/items/2702 So do it now, please, if you possibly can... And Happy New Year, Michael Albert
