I touched on this in my post earlier today, but I wanted to dedicate some time specifically toward looking for more local blogs to support. If you have one, contact me at chris@mydd.com--Chris
There is a total market failure for local news in this country, caused in large part by corporate media consolidation. Local newspapers are laying off staff and relying more heavily than ever on news wires. Most alternative local weeklies have either shut down, or been purchased by larger media conglomerates. "Local" TV stations, such as those owned by Sinclair, have much of their content produced from a single, centralized news studio. Local voices are being shut down, which invariably means that progressive voices are being shut down as well.
Fortunately, local progressive blogging is filling this void in states and cities around the nation. However, even as local bloggers help to revitalize local and progressive media nationwide, and even as they help build local progressive, activist communities, they receive virtually no compensation for doing so. That is where
BlogPac's local blogger grants come in. As Laura Packard wrote earlier today:
BlogPac will be offering a series of grants to community blogs to help cover those fees (one year of hosting, ie. $180, will be the standard amount).
We are pleased to announce our first round of grants. BlogPac will be supporting:
These websites are not only local progressive media outlets--they are also hubs for local progressive activist communities. Also, because they are independent websites not tied to any existing institution, they offer the sort of raw, unfiltered content you can trust. Further, by focusing on politics from a statewide level, they are local, but can still impact the national scene. These are exactly the sort of blogs that will sustain the progressive movement in the months and years to come, and we want to give out grants to at least another 38 of them. Here are our complete eligibility requirements:
- Must have a lefty political orientation
- Must have mostly state-based content, not just city or region
- Must be mostly political content
- Must allow diaries as well as comments
- Must be independent - not a part of an existing political group ie. candidate or official campaign, state party, union, caucus, College Dem chapter etc.
If you have, or know of, a local blog in your state that meets the requirements and could use a website hosting grant, contact me at chris@mydd.com. Don't be bashful. I want to start sending out money ASAP.
