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Archives

Age of Obama
Barack Obama's presidency

Bush End Game
George W. Bush's presidency since 2007

Bush - Second Term
George W. Bush's presidency from 2005-06

Bush - First Term
George W. Bush's presidency, 2000-04

Who Is Bob Gates?
The secret world of Defense Secretary Gates

2004 Campaign
Bush Bests Kerry

Behind Colin Powell's Legend
Gauging Powell's reputation.

The 2000 Campaign
Recounting the controversial campaign.

Media Crisis
Is the national media a danger to democracy?

The Clinton Scandals
Behind President Clinton's impeachment.

Nazi Echo
Pinochet & Other Characters.

The Dark Side of Rev. Moon
Rev. Sun Myung Moon and American politics.

Contra Crack
Contra drug stories uncovered

Lost History
America's tainted historical record

The October Surprise "X-Files"
The 1980 election scandal exposed.

International
From free trade to the Kosovo crisis.

Other Investigative Stories

Editorials

Sometimes I joke that there are two kinds of people in the world, those who read Consortiumnews.com and those who don’t – one group being somewhat larger than the other.

My point, however, is that our 14-year-old Web site offers a distinctive journalistic perspective for understanding the world -- through a heavy reliance on facts and historical context. We try to filter out other elements (such as ideology and conventional wisdom) that can distort a truthful picture.

Because of that, someone who reads us regularly, I believe, will experience a different way of seeing recent history and current events than someone who doesn’t.

Here are five other reasons, why I think we deserve your support:

5. We don’t waste your time. As an edited Web site, we take pride in presenting well-crafted stories that provide you with worthwhile information and clear analysis. Our goal is to make sure that every story we publish has some new information or a fresh take on an important topic.

4. We don’t follow the herd. It’s been my experience in 35 years of American journalism that the biggest reporting mistakes come when a rapid consensus forms about some person or event. As the stampede begins, contrary evidence is ignored or mocked. We stop and look at the facts.

3. We aren’t afraid. Many journalistic judgments are driven by career-fear, that stepping too far out of line will mean serious consequences to one’s livelihood. We have chosen this Internet route so we can be free of those pressures. That means we’ll tell you the truth about favored icons, like Colin Powell or Ronald Reagan or Lee Hamilton, when others won’t.

2. We are independent. Unlike some Internet news sites that rely on one or two wealthy donors who can pull the plug if stories don’t fit their preconceptions, we count on our readers to support what we do. We trust that what you want is good reporting and good writing.

1. We are committed to working with other truth-tellers to explain how the United States and the world reached today’s dangerous crossroads. In that endeavor, we collaborate not only with other journalists but with former intelligence analysts, like Ray McGovern, who have found that telling the truth can be a risky undertaking inside the U.S. government as well as without.

So, please contribute what you can so our unique journalistic experiment can continue.  We have set a $45,000 goal for our mid-year fundraiser and have so far raised only about one-tenth of that amount.

Depending on your situation, we are suggesting four different ways you can help:

First, you can make a tax-deductible donation either by credit card online or by sending a check to: Consortium for Independent Journalism (CIJ); 2200 Wilson Blvd.: Suite 102-231; Arlington VA 22201.

You also can sign up for a monthly donation if that works better for your budget. Or you can make a donation by PayPal to our account which uses our e-mail address: [email protected].

(If anyone can offer a matching grant of several thousand dollars, that could be a huge help. In a previous fundraiser, we had great success with a matching grant as readers met the challenge and thus doubled the value of their donations.)

Second, you can arrange a local fundraiser by inviting Ray McGovern and me to speak as a duo, representing the new alliance we are building between honest CIA veterans and honest American journalists. (I’m also available to speak alone, but it’s a lot better if you have Ray there, too.)

For details on how to arrange one of our talks, click here.

Third, you can buy the three-volume set (Lost History, Secrecy & Privilege and Neck Deep) for your local or school library for the 3-for-1 price of only $25, with $5 of each purchase going to support the Web site.

(To learn more about this special offer, click here. It would help, too, if someone would help us get the books cleared by whatever national library associations give out seals of approval.)

Fourth, you can forward our e-mail story alerts to friends who might be interested. We now have an e-mail list of about 8,000. We’d like to double it.

As always, thanks for your support.

Robert Parry, Editor

Robert Parry broke many of the Iran-Contra stories in the 1980s for the Associated Press and Newsweek. He founded Consortiumnews.com in 1995 as the Internet's first investigative magazine. He saw it as a way to combine modern technology and old-fashioned journalism to counter the increasing triviality of the mainstream U.S. news media.

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