Help support change from the bottom
up
Once again it is time for another fund drive at AGR. Every year we
have a Fall and Spring fund drive to help cover our yearly operating
expenses.
We always look at the existence of AGR as a weekly bargain, a trade.
There is a group of about fifteen people (including the editors) who
volunteer their time, creativity and energy into putting together
and distributing the paper. In return our readers and supporters donate
enough money in order to keep the paper afloat. This fall fund drive
is a part of that effort.
AGR is part of the change that is bubbling up around the world –
from the bottom up. It is locally produced and distributed –
with the addition of about 200 subscribers nationwide and a well-traveled
web site. We are not a large corporation reaping profits off the news,
and as we are rooted in a community we are accountable to that community.
We have weekly meetings that anyone can walk into, observe and participate
in – try that at the New York Times or your local Gannett franchise
paper. We operate as a group, making collective decisions – there
is no “owner” to obey or shareholders to increase profits
for.
We carry news we and our readers find important and look at news with
a bottom-up perspective: we do not just want to report what the talking
heads like Bush and Blair are saying, but to focus just as much or
more on what citizens/people around the world are saying and doing.
AGR wants to know not only where the bombs are currently being dropped,
but on who? and why? and what people around the world are doing to
stop them from being dropped in the first place?
AGR wants to know not only what the timber and mining companies and
their pals in Washington are up to, but what people are doing to preserve
the forest lands and ecosystems that are vital to life on this planet.
You may have noticed that very little of the topics and perspectives
found in the AGR can be found on your local corporate nightly newscast
or in the pages of your town’s corporate daily newspaper. AGR’s
reporting and weekly overview news compilations have again been recognized
among the best of the alternative press by Project Censored, with
media experts and academics awarding four AGR stories among the top
twenty-five missed in the corporate media. Included in these stories
was our in-depth coverage of the Enron scandal, coverage of the war
in Afghanistan, the Bush administration’s unilateralism in regards
to international treaty obligations, and anti-corporate coverage of
Plan Puebla-Panama and the FTAA. This is just a small sample of the
un-reported and under-reported news covered by the AGR.
It is only with the help of those of you who have supported the AGR
over the years, and continue to support the AGR, that important stories
like those above get the attention they deserve. Much of our attention
since this past Spring fund drive has been focused on the war on,
and occupation of, Iraq. This year we will be giving donors of $25
or more our Iraq war booklet, covering in detail the lead-up to the
war on Iraq through the official “end of hostilities.” If
you choose to donate online, and are requesting a copy of the booklet,
be sure to include your shipping address.
For those in the Asheville area we will also be having several fundraising
events over the coming weeks, such as films and nights of music. And
we encourage you to still please donate if you cannot make it to these
events. We really need you.
We hope you continue to perceive AGR as a valuable resource and continue
to support us. Please support media diversity. The AGR is a 501(c)3
non-profit organization and your donation is tax deductible. No amount
is too big, no amount is too small.
Please take the time to donate now.
Sincerely, the AGR editorial collective
Send your check or money order to:
P.O. Box 1504
Asheville, NC 28802
Or click below to donate with your credit card:
