Yesterday evening, I and several other volunteers from Democracy for Colorado staffed the pledge drive at Free Speech TV here in Boulder. Two weeks before, we helped with KGNU Community Radio‘s pledge drive. These are two of several activities we regularly do in order to keep local alternative media healthy.
Free Speech TV produces lots of quality programming that is then syndicated to cable providers and the Dish Network, including Amy Goodman’s Democracy Now! and SourceCode. I encourage you to send them a donation online if you benefit from their programming.
I’ve done quite a few of these drives, and frankly the donations were only trickling in. But two calls in particular really woke me up.
First was a young woman who didn’t have an address to give. We need this information for reporting and credit card processing, so I asked her why not? She replied that she was staying at her aunt’s house right now, since her apartment in New Orleans was literally gone. She had no help or relatives other than her aunt, and didn’t know how long she’d be there or “how I can ever get back on my feet.”
I didn’t press her on the details. But she told me that alternative news programming like Democracy Now! was a lifeline to her. She turned on CNN and MSNBC and couldn’t take what she saw as a stream of lies. She was obviously in dire straits, but was determined to send $25 to the volunteers who made Free Speech TV possible. I told her I would donate $25 in her name, and she should keep it to help with her pressing needs. But she would not relent, so we both gave $25, and she hung up happy that she’d helped something that helped her keep sane.
Near the end of my four hours, I got another memorable call. This was from an elderly Hispanic woman in Tuscon. She gave me all her information but declined to say how much she’d donate by check. She repeated what everyone said: without shows that tell the truth about the world, like those on Free Speech TV, she would not know what to do.
Leaving the donation form without a pledge amount usually means a lost pledge, so I pressed her again for how much she’d be able to donate. She said “I wish I could say, but it depends on how much I’ll have left after I spend most of my Social Security check next week.”
I trust she will send her check when she can, for as much as she can. It’s much too important to people like her. It’s a lifeline.
Please support independent, alternative, and community-based media in your area. It’s too important to ignore.