Awards and recognition in a time of
hardship
Last week, just as Asheville Global Report was receiving
a sweeping total of four out of twenty-five of this year’s Project
Censored awards in San Francisco, CA, our readers were informed that
our bank account contained a mere $100.
Borrowing money from a close friend, one of our editors managed to
attend the awards ceremony and share the stage with publications such
as Mother Jones and the Nation.
The winners had been chosen after a long selection process, finally
being determined by a panel of national judges such as past-president
of the American Library Association, Nancy Kranich, and renowned historian
Howard Zinn.
Perhaps tellingly registering far below most Americans’ radar,
Project Censored has nevertheless been referred to by the country’s
most trusted journalist, Walter Cronkite, as an organization “that
we should listen to, to be assured that our newspapers and our broadcasting
outlets are practicing thorough and ethical journalism.”
Among the criteria for which the news stories for each award were
selected:
¨ Contains information that the general United States population
has a right and need to know, but to which it has had limited access.
¨ The news story is timely, ongoing, and has direct implications
for a significant number of residents in the US.
Now what does this tell us?
It indicates to us at AGR that our country’s free, public access
to crucial information is in a state of ill health. That something
such as Project Censored should even have to exist, alone, has damning
implications. But the pathetic fact that the only chance our population
of some 292,286,146 US citizens had to read about our country’s
proposal to invade the Netherlands was online or within a couple thousand
copies of Asheville Global Report, might suggest an even bleaker conclusion.
Or what about a massacre in Afghanistan in which the US military had
been implicated in the torture and execution of approximately 3,000
men; or that corporate criminals such as Enron and Worldcom have not
been punished, but rewarded; and just what is the pending Free Trade
Agreement of the Americas, and why are people here and abroad who
do know, so concerned and traveling to Miami in November to stop it?
Bearing in mind our meager distribution, outside of online newsreaders,
it may be safe to say that most newspaper-reading Americans didn’t
see these stories. It is especially troubling that were it not for
a poor dishwasher and waitress in Asheville, North Carolina volunteering
for AGR, at least two of these stories wouldn’t have seen the
light of day in this country at all.
Given their magnitude and diversity, the awarded stories imply that
quite a great deal is being left out of the national conversation.
That their very existence was dependent on a perpetually under-funded
local newspaper with an uncertain future should be disturbing.
It is to us. To us, this represents nothing less than a public information
crisis of enormous proportions.
Will you, or Project Censored for that matter, always be able to rely
on Asheville Global Report to mend this gaping hole of news coverage
about current events of critical importance?
The AGR staff has no trust fund, no nest egg, no large grants, nor
any type of insurance that the newspaper will continue. Many of us
live paycheck to paycheck, inches away from the pavement, with pocket
change to count among our life savings. And desperation has never
been a pleasant pastime. Nevertheless, we feel the work we do is of
the utmost necessity, so we’ll keep on doing it for as long as
we can.
But that depends on you. Asheville Global Report is made possible
not only by the small team of volunteers who produce the newspaper,
but by you, the reader, who funds our non-profit mission for public
education.
We’d be nowhere, much less within the scope of national recognition,
if it weren’t for you who’ve attended our benefit shows
and films, given small donations when possible, bought subscriptions
for family members, or taken advantage of our small business owner-friendly
advertising rates that are as cheap as $10 a piece.
Though it’s our Fall fundraising season, it just so happens that
our finances at this moment are in particularly bad shape. Right now,
we desperately need money for our bare minimum production costs.
This can’t be overstated. Such is the nature of our organization
that we absolutely need and depend on ongoing public support. In other
words, HELP!
As in the past, dozens of local individuals, concerned about the news
they’re not getting from the five corporate conglomerates that
own and control what media most Americans see and hear, are lending
their time, resources, and talent to throw AGR benefits in the coming
weeks. Please come. They promise to be both educational and entertaining.
Check this very paper for announcements, dates and times.
Donations of any size of course are also emphatically encouraged.
Either send checks and money orders to our PO Box address or visit
us online at www.agrnews.org and charge it to our Pay Pal account.
Asheville Global Report is a 501(c)3 non-profit, so your donation
is tax-deductible. And if you donate $25 or more, we’ll send
you a complimentary copy of The War on Iraq, a booklet documenting
AGR’s coverage of the first months of the US invasion and occupation.
Please make a contribution to guarantee that AGR continues it’s
tragically unique and outstanding work. It may not be an exaggeration
to say that the survival of your access to the truth itself may be
precarious.
We hate to beg, but as it barely stands, we have to...because to consider
the view from where we currently survey the national media landscape,
“winning” could easily feel a lot like “losing”.
Thank you.
AGR editorial collective
Send your check or money order to:
P.O. Box 1504
Asheville, NC 28802
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