SALON

Thursday, Feb 23, 2012 3:30 PM UTC

Fearless journalism has a price

A message from Salon's founder: "The country needs a fighting, independent media more than ever"

By

Topics: Inside Salon,

Fearless journalism has a price

As the founder of Salon and the one responsible for making payroll and paying the bills each month, I am well aware of how important readers – not just advertisers – are to a media enterprise like ours.

Salon members were once the secret behind our website’s success. At one point, nearly 100,000 people signed up as paying Salon subscribers. This amazing achievement – at a time when the absurd mantra “information wants to be free” held sway – helped stabilize Salon as dozens of other worthy websites were disappearing into Internet history.

In recent years, Salon unfortunately allowed its subscription program to nearly wither away, through lack of attention. But today we’re relaunching our new, robust subscription program – Salon Core – with a new array of benefits and special community events. And once more we’re calling on our readers to support Salon’s unique brand of independent journalism.

These days, the only people who still believe in the information-should-be free business model are the media moguls who made a fortune by not paying their freelance workers or by stealing the hard labor of other newsrooms.

At Salon, we know that a free press is not free. We have always paid the hardworking people who report and write and edit and photograph and film and design and code for our site. Nobody has gotten rich from Salon, including me. But we’ve taken pride in our work as one of the last truly independent news operations in America. We are “FEARLESS” – as our new ad banners proclaim – because we can afford to be. We don’t answer to corporate overlords at Time Warner or News Corp. or AOL. We control our own content and answer only to our own conscience.

That’s why we can report and crusade as fearlessly as we do. Think of the following stories – just a recent Salon sample – and ask yourself how many other publications would dare dig into these subjects:

  • Glenn Greenwald’s eloquent evisceration of Frank VanderSloot, the billionaire Romney donor who used legal threats to silence other media who dared examine his thuggish behavior.
  • Justin Elliott’s exposure of the insidious smear campaign aimed at progressive journalists who dare criticize Israeli government policy.
  • Our reporting staff’s comprehensive coverage of the Occupy Wall Street movement, extending into the winter months when the mainstream media has grown distracted and bored with the most important social movement of our day.
  • Andrew Leonard’s ongoing indictment of the greediest and most anti-American corporations and banks.
  • Alex Pareene’s wildly popular and deeply edifying Hack List, documenting the media’s most pompous, power-worshipping and consistently clueless talking heads.
  • Mary Elizabeth Williams’ harrowing saga of her participation in a cancer treatment clinical trial, which is not only a heart-rending personal tale, but a sharply observed report on the sickness of our healthcare system.
  • Mark Oppenheimer’s intimate profile of Maggie Gallagher, an architect of the national campaign against marriage equality.
  • Immy Humes’ compelling video series, “F**KED: The United States of Unemployment,” which gives a human face to the economic crisis.

This is fearless journalism. And there is only way to keep it coming: with your support. Advertising has never paid all of our bills at Salon. Currently, it only underwrites about half of our annual budget.

YOU are the lifeblood of Salon. Help keep us alive and well, so we can keep up the good fight.

Show your support for fearless, passionate journalism by joining Salon Core today.

David Talbot

David Talbot is the founder and former editor-in-chief of Salon, and the project director of Open America. You can contribute to the Bradley Manning legal defense fund here. And you can donate to the Open America campaign by going to its Indiegogo page. More David Talbot.

Next Article

You Might Also Like

More Related Stories

Featured Slide Shows

Gripping photos: The people of the Turkey protests (slideshow)

close X
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11
  • The protests take on a festive element as police forces move out of the park and square. Wearing a gas mask, this young man dances to traditional Turkish music in front of Taksim Square’s Ataturk Monument.

  • In Gezi Park since March 31st, this protester, originally caught off-guard by the Government’s teargas and water cannons, went out and bought a Russian army mask from WWII, preparing for what was to come.

  • This rambunctious boy seems to be enjoying the chaos. After taking this picture he threw a stone at the already destroyed building in the background.

  • Forming a line, the police face off directly with protesters in Taksim Square. After a while, they retreated and there was a general cheer – a back-and-forth dance that has been common since the beginning of this protest.

  • An elderly woman in Gezi Park reads the news. The tent community occupying the park was violently destroyed on June 16th.

  • Many different groups had set up booths to promote their cause in Taksim Square and Gezi Park. Standing in front of one, this man waves his flag while posing with conviction.

  • Many home-remedies are used to minimize the effects of tear gas. This woman has put a milky solution on her face, removing her mask after the tear gas dissipated. Before sunrise, the police came again for another round of teargasing.

  • People capitalize on the uprising -- selling flags, beer, gas masks, sky lanterns and spray paint to name just a few of the popular items.

  • On Monday morning, June 11, the police execute a strong offensive. Many plain-clothed police officers, like the ones seen here, clash with protesters in the side streets away from the main stand-off in Taksim.

  • The authorities seem to be most aggressive in the night, pushing protesters away from the square and park. After being teargassed this young woman catches her breath with other protesters on Siraselviler Street.

  • Recent Slide Shows

  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11

Related Videos

More Related Stories

Comments

 140 Comments

Comment Preview

Your name will appear as username ( settings | log out )

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href=""> <b> <em> <strong> <i> <blockquote>

follow salon

Most Read

Popular on Reddit

links from salon.com

From Around the Web

Presented by Scribol
listener_new_rect The Listener: "We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves": Growing up primate

Recommendations