[MGP-Forum Announce] Be a Part of the Solution!

[steve at coanews.org]

Hello everyone, since the inception of COA News and The Center For  
Information Awareness (http://coanews.org/cfia), I often come to the  
intelligent people on this list for input.


When I was an undergraduate student I started emailing articles from  
independent media websites to friends and family. My email list kept  
growing, and eventually turned into a newsletter with some original  
reporting – this eventually became a small media collective.

When I finished university I decided I wanted to take this to the next  
level. During the build up to the Iraq war, I was frustrated by the  
fact that most people did not know that there was real reporting  
happening online and my newsletter was not satisfying me. I moved home  
with my parents, and worked as a landscaper and various odd jobs to  
save up money to get something started. Once I had some funds, I  
registered a non-profit (The Center For Information Awareness –  
http://coanews.org/cfia) , and launched a website  
(http://coanews.org). From there I built the organization up with the  
help of the collective of volunteers and whatever donations we could  
scrape together.
To this day it is a struggle to keep it going.

  Last month we had over 1 million hits on coanews.org , but those  
hits don’t pay the bills. Although we are dedicated to remaining an  
open, participatory organization, we also really want to make this a  
sustainable project.

To do so we’re having an open membership drive  
(http://coanews.org/donate). In solidarity some independent media  
outlets have donated some materials that we are offering as  
incentives. But what we think is most important and exciting is that  
we are putting all members on a steering committee. Call it an  
experiment in democracy or what you will, but the idea is members will  
help direct the organization by e-votes and general input. We also  
hope to hold board meetings that are open to all members. So we would  
announce the meetings to all members and then either provide a call in  
number or a online chat function. We’re tossing around other ideas as  
well, and hope members will think of other ways they can direct our  
operations as well. We’re not sure where this will lead, but we’re  
dedicated to giving it a try.

I know it’s far from perfect to only allow paying members this level  
of access, but really providing this access will cost us some valuable  
time and energy – and really we can’t offer anything if we do not have  
a community of supporters. http://coanews.org/donate

At $5 dollars every 2 months (or $2.50 a month) we hope it is  
accessible to most people. This price will also get people a copy of  
Clamour and Altar magazine, as well as a FULL YEAR subscription to YES  
Magazine and Free Copies of Acclaimed Book "All Rise" by Best Selling  
Author Robert Fuller!, so we’re hoping this makes it worth for those  
who are unsure if they want to take part. If you’re at all interested  
go to: http://coanews.org/donate

Please be a part of the solution: http://coanews.org/donate

Thank you all for your support, and I encourage input of any kind.


Steve Anderson – on behalf of COA News


PS. Please forward this on to anyone/lists that you think might be interested.