That’s right, OUR Patreon. I finally launched the page today, and here it is, but let me tell you why it’ll be Our Patreon, and not My Patreon:
First, the Simple Answer:
With money-sharing just a click away, there’s myriad ways to share funds with people that need it. Whether you’re sharing the cost of lunch or creating poetry for a small fee, who hasn’t heard of Venmo? There’s a lot of ways to share the cost of this expensive endeavor we call life.
Newsy Background:
For news organizations, it’s no secret that they’ve mostly become corrupted by advertisers and their needs. Advertising isn’t always consistent either, even for the New York Times! Not only that, but also, not everyone is as affordable as The New York Times when it comes to subscription-based funding.
For more research on the latest annual data, check out this from the American Press Institute.
I’ve always done my work for free, but that doesn’t mean that it’s sustainable in any way. It’s made a lot of projects unreachable for me. For instance, in order to cover certain topics regarding immigration at the southern border, I more or less had to make new friends in the area or be homeless.
One thing I did learn from this: I can manage with far less and don’t mind giving my money away to others. They may need it more than me, and after living for three months across the southwest with not much more than camping equipment, I’m also confident that the money is better spent by them. So at last, here’s that simple answer:
Donations, Charitable Giving, and Helping People in Need
Whether it’s ensuring a young girl can stay in the country to achieve her veterinary dreams, making sure those seeking abortion have the funds to do so, or maybe just supporting someone in need through Venmo, I want to set aside 50% of whatever funds are raised for this sort of giving, and yes, there will be receipts.
Finally, the Tough Stuff:
Having a blog is great. And yes, it’s work. But I have bigger dreams than that!
There’s a lot of people out there today that are pretty well on-top-of great content circulating social media. They read, they watch, they may even write or record. I want to support them.
I want to give progressive creators another outlet, and one that pays.
So that’s where that other 50% of the funds will be going: a business account and startup costs, as well as advertising materials so we can get investors in on this action. Once I have a partner in this entrepreneurial mission, be on the lookout for a Kickstarter!
If you’re excited about a news network that gives back more than it takes, awesome, give it a dollar at https://www.patreon.com/BriennaParsons and let me know if there’s anyone you’d like to see involved, or any subjects covered here or elsewhere. You can also specify if you want that dollar to go to me directly, but it’s easier to use my PayPal for that.
Brienna Parsons 