AGR’s survival is up to you

To all the people who have donated money — money that, we know, many of you can not easily afford — to pay, literally, for the continued publication of Asheville Global Report in recent weeks: thank you.

To all the folks who have stepped up this month to offer their time, energy, and skills as volunteers: thank you.

This is the last week of our spring fundraiser. It’s also time for another AGR benefit show, so if you haven’t already made a donation (or even if you have) please come to Stellablue this Saturday, May 3, for a show featuring Scrappy Hamilton, Ironfist, Crick & Twisted, and Tribalotomee.

Asheville Global Report has been in print for over four years. In that time the staff has done its best to offer a factual, accurate, and timely resource for news that is otherwise ignored, covering information and events that many would never hear of were it not for free print media. You, the readers of AGR, have come to know that you can pick up a paper every week and it doesn’t cost you a penny.

We want to keep doing this as long as it takes. We want AGR to continue to be an organizing tool. We hope to keep printing until the day when a newspaper like AGR is no longer needed, until that day when we can print news that’s all good and truly be able to say, “well folks, that’s it — no, really — nothing bad happened this week.” Yeah, that’s utopia. It’s really easy to smirk and chuckle over the idea, the state of the world being what it is, but isn’t that the point? Isn’t that what we’re all working for? A world in which social justice is the status quo; in which our very culture nurtures good qualities in humanity like solidarity, respect, and compassion, rather than greed and selfishness; in which we truly tread lightly on the earth, and no one suffers because of how we’re living?

The point of activism is not to endlessly agitate. The point of AGR is not to read it, and then throw up your hands in despair and defeat. It may be bleak sometimes, but isn’t an ugly truth better than the prettiest lie?

Every time you read a mainstream news item filled with distortions, every time you cringe when the radio reporter puts forth another falsehood, every time you holler, “my god, are they serious?” while watching the evening news, remember that Asheville Global Report is continually struggling to be an antidote to the illness of mainstream media. AGR is a truly independent media effort, and its survival has always depended, and will continue to depend, on your support.

Each reader who comes to a benefit, subscribes, donates, distributes the paper, or passes it on to a friend; every person who shows up to help; every business, individual, or organization that advertises with us; in other words, you, are indispensable to the survival of this newspaper.

Media consolidation persists. Help Asheville Global Report persevere. As our spring fundraising drive draws to a close, please remember that, although we only ask twice a year, we truly need your support – however you want to give it — every week.

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