With Increased Readership and Features Come More Expenses

Higher Technical Costs Means Narco News Needs You Now More than Ever

By David B. Briones
Webmaster

December 29, 2008

In September 2006 I was lucky enough to be accepted as the new webmaster for a project that I considered to be completely one-of-a-kind. A little over two years later, as we wrap up the year 2008, I am still very proud to be able to say that Narco News is still wholly unique and better than ever! The project is composed of a staff that works full-time hours on the minimum of resources, but yet produces high-quality and hard hitting reporting, commentary and analysis ranging from news and activism in Latin America to politics in the United States.

Thanks to the our newest addition to the project, The Field, The Narco News Bulletin has increased it’s readership by double. The Narcosphere, a reader-driven participatory forum aimed at complementing and discussing Narco News reporting, has exploded with over 150 new Co-publishers since The Field became part of the project. The result has been an exciting mix of discussion and debate about the happenings of the entire Western Hemisphere. In other words, we are thriving!

But there are a couple of things that you may not know which have added to the cost burden placed upon The Fund for Authentic Journalism, which fully supports The Narco News Bulletin, The Narcosphere, The Field and Salon Chingon. First, because of the increased readership we received when The Field moved to our server we experienced several technical problems that often resulted in the crashing of our servers. To solve the problem we upgraded to a fully private server that is solely dedicated to the websites of the project. The new server allowed us to provide our readers with a seamless, fast and reliable system to deliver vital news and commentary to combat the Commercial Media blockade that attempts to control how information is delivered to you, kind reader. Needless to say, the new server is considerably more expensive than the one we were running on before.

Second, and more unexpected, is the deterioration of the main computer that has been used to manage and maintain all of the websites of the project. The old warhorse has given us her best for quite some time, but alas she has begun to falter. This has led to an unforeseen expenditure of $1,800 for a new reliable machine to continue the technical management of all our websites.

As we approach the end of the year and our final 2008 fundraising drive we are still quite a bit short of our goal of $10,000. No, Narco News will not go quietly into the night if we don’t reach our goal, but serious cutbacks will have to be made if this is the case. In other situations I would propose an extension of the fundraising deadline, but I already know what the answer from Al would be: Keep plowing forward and don’t stop until we reach our goal. It’s this trademark persistence that makes the project special and why those devoted to it – both workers and supporters – fall into a league of their own.

Because of the time of the year and the economic problems that the world as a community is facing, it is understandable how many may be unable to donate as much as they would like to The Fund for Authentic Journalism. But I have tremendous faith in the readers of our sites, both new and old, that with just a little more time we can achieve this goal and continue to provide you with a unique and rich source of information.

I ask you now to please donate, if you can afford it, one last time for this year to The Fund for Authentic Journalism. This can be done by donating online at:

http://www.authenticjournalism.org

Or you can write a check to:

The Fund for Authentic Journalism
PO Box 241
Natick, MA 01760 USA

Remember that The Fund for Authentic Journalism is a federal non-profit and thus is fully tax-deductible!

Everyone here at Narco News wishes to thank all of our readers for continued support as we progress and grow in the new year. Without you we could not be what we are today.

Have a wonderful new year!

David B. Briones
Webmaster, Narco News

For more Narco News, click here.