What Consortiumnews Tries to Do

From Editor Robert Parry: Since we started nearly two decades ago, the goal of Consortiumnews has been to give the people as unvarnished an account of important events as possible because we feel that honest journalism is essential to democracy, presenting you the facts so you have the power to make informed judgments.

Our approach has angered some powerful people at times because they would prefer to use information or misinformation to manipulate you to get you to support some aggressive action against some adversary somewhere in the world. This is sometimes called “information warfare,” but it amounts to them controlling you rather than you controlling them.

It always encourages me when readers “get” what we’ve tried to do. For instance, Peter Janney, author of Mary’s Mosaic, wrote recently, saying “I wanted to thank you for the great service you have done for America and the entire world via ConsortiumNews. The writing by all journalists on this site is outstanding, and deserves special recognition.

“This is an exemplary news site, and many of my friends, whom I have introduced to the site, still continue to thank me for pointing it out to them.”

We also make extremely good use of the donations that readers send to support our work. We run a very tight ship with a total annual budget just barely into six-figures. Our year-end fundraiser is especially important because it affects our planning for the New Year.

So, if you agree with Peter and have the means to do so, please help us sustain this project for empowering people with well-reported and reliable information:

You can make a donation to our tax-exempt non-profit. You can use a credit card online (we accept Visa, Mastercard or Discover) or you can mail a check to Consortium for Independent Journalism (CIJ); 2200 Wilson Blvd., Suite 102-231; Arlington VA 22201. For readers wanting to use PayPal, you can address contributions to our account, which is named after our e-mail address: “consortnew @ aol.com”. (Since we are a 501-c-3 non-profit, donations by American taxpayers may be tax-deductible.)

For donations of $100 or more, we are offering special thank-you gifts. If you want one of the gifts, just send us an e-mail at [email protected] including your mailing address and saying whether you would like either:

A CD of the historic joint appearance of the late Gary Webb and me, speaking in December 1996 about the Contra-cocaine scandal at the Midnight Special bookstore in Santa Monica, California. Plus, an autographed copy of my book, Lost History: Contras, Cocaine, the Press and Project Truth, which describes how the CIA’s inspector general finally acknowledged that the CIA did know about the Contra-cocaine smuggling and helped cover it up. (This information is featured in the new movie, “Kill the Messenger.”)

Or a DVD of the 1991 Frontline documentary, “Election Held Hostage,” which examines whether Ronald Reagan’s campaign exploited the 1980 Iran hostage crisis to win the presidency. Plus, a signed copy of my newest book, America’s Stolen Narrative, which provides the latest documentary evidence on that Republican skullduggery.

Another way to help Consortiumnews survive is to buy my three-book trilogy on the Bush dynasty Secrecy & Privilege, Neck Deep and America’s Stolen Narrative for the discount price of only $34, less than half the cover price. Just go to Consortiumnews.com’s “Donate” button and make a $34 “donation” using Visa, Mastercard or Discover. We will read a “donation” of that amount as an order for the trilogy. If your mailing address is the same as your credit card billing address, we will ship the books to that address. If your mailing address is different, just send us an e-mail at [email protected] and we will make the adjustment.

You can also take advantage of this trilogy offer by mailing a check for $34 to The Media Consortium; 2200 Wilson Blvd.; Suite 102-231; Arlington VA 22201. Or you can use our PayPal account, “consortnew @ aol.com.” Just make sure you include your mailing address in the message. (A portion of each sale will go to support our investigative journalism.)

For U.S. orders of the trilogy, we will pay for the shipping. (Regrettably, this three-book offer can only be made for the United States because of increased international postal rates.)

Other ways to help:

If you purchase items through Amazon, you can go to AmazonSmile and select Consortium for Independent Journalism as your preferred charity to receive a fraction of each purchase that you make at Amazon at no extra cost to you.

You can donate stock or other equities, which can offer a tax advantage to you if the stock has appreciated in value. If this stock-donation option appeals to you, I suggest you discuss it with your broker and then contact me at [email protected] for specific instructions on how to transfer the stock.

Again, thanks for your support and for making our 19 years of honest journalism possible.

Robert Parry is a longtime investigative reporter who broke many of the Iran-Contra stories for the Associated Press and Newsweek in the 1980s. He founded Consortiumnews.com in 1995 to create an outlet for well-reported journalism that was being squeezed out of an increasingly trivialized U.S. news media.