We truly feel that our model of non-profit, locally rooted journalism that's accountable to the communities we serve is a way forward as corporate media gives up, but what we're doing is not new. In fact, across the United States, as corporate media abandons communities due to lack of profits, reporter-led news organizations and collectives are filling the gap.
Still, supports are lacking for journalism start-ups in Canada. We've come this far mostly on a volunteer basis as we continue looking for jobs. Our severance and EI benefits have dried up. Our fundraising at community events and through an online crowdfunding platform is composed of mostly small individual donations of $10, $25 and $100 at a time. We don't have charitable status, so we can't issue tax receipts that might shake loose transformative big-money support.
Foundation funding frequently looks for a proven history, something that's difficult for a start-up to provide. Grant opportunities are often like fitting a square peg into a round hole. The few that are journalism-specific, like the local journalism initiative, are already oversubscribed and don't provide funding for such critical supports as hiring ad reps who can bring in ad revenue, or cover costs like software subscriptions, insurance, printing and distribution.