If you want to get a last-minute tax deduction in for 2009, or just want to get a jump on your 2010 return, please consider making a tax-deductible donation to the Bronx News Network by clicking here. After the jump is a letter we just mailed out to some of our friends and supporters. It lays out our accomplishments in 2009 and our plans for 2010 (including making this blog bigger and better!).
We’re trying to raise $15,000 from individuals by Jan. 30. If you value hyper-local Bronx news -- if you’re reading this blog you obviously do -- please make a donation today! We’ll keep a running daily count of how much we raise. So far, we’ve raised $500. Help us get to $1,000 today. Thanks! (If you've already responded to our e-mail appeal, thank you!!!) -- Jordan Moss
Dear Friend,
Last year we wrote to you about our “Campaign for a Bronx News Network.”
Well, we are pleased to report that the Bronx News Network is now an incorporated not-for-profit with federal tax-exempt status from the IRS.
And, as promised, we hired a part-time reporter and launched the Tremont Tribune, a bi-lingual monthly newspaper, bringing local news and information to residents of Community District 6 for the first time!
There were other highlights in 2009…
Teens in our youth journalism program for high school students are finishing the eighth edition of Bronx Youth Heard, which is inserted into BxNN papers. And we’re proud to announce that a Bedford Park student in our program interned at the Norwood News over the summer and is now a freshman at Cornell University on a New York Times scholarship.
In October, the Village Voice honored the Norwood News in its “Best of NYC 2009” issue, calling it the “Best Little Newspaper that Beats the Odds.”
And in December, the Norwood News and Mount Hope Monitor won three Ippie Awards, given out each year by the New York Community Media Alliance to recognize excellence in the city’s ethnic and community press. We won in the categories of investigative journalism, photography, and education coverage.
BxNN is off to a great start, but there’s so much more we must do to make sure all Bronxites get the information they need to help transform their communities and hold government officials, politicians, bankers, landlords, and other decision makers accountable.
With your support, we can lay the groundwork for hiring a full-time reporter for the Tremont Tribune, which will expand our coverage of Community District 6, and advance our plans for making the Mount Hope Monitor a bi-weekly paper.
In 2010, we also want to bring you a bigger, better and more interactive Bronx News Network blog (bronxnewsnetwork.org), which has become a must-read for residents and community leaders as well as elected officials and their staffs.
In an era when newspapers and media organizations are drastically cutting back and disappearing, making local news the number one casualty, BxNN can serve as a national model for creating sustainable journalism in neighborhoods where information blackouts have historically stymied community action, progress, and good government. Print still matters in low-income neighborhoods, where fewer residents have internet access.
But we can’t do this without you. A three-month subscription to the New York Times is $70. Buying the Daily News every weekday for a year is $120. What is local Bronx news worth to you?
Please help us to reach our goal of raising $15,000 by Jan. 30 so that we can continue to report the news that would otherwise go uncovered, and amplify the concerns and activities of Bronx residents and community organizations.
Click here to make a tax-deductible donation of $50, $100, $250, $500 or whatever you can afford.
Every neighborhood needs a voice, and you can help us make those voices heard loud and clear!
Have a wonderful 2010!
Sincerely,
Jordan Moss
Executive Editor and Publisher
P.S. We hope you’ll check the bronxnewsnetwork.org as part of your daily routine in 2010. You can also follow the BxNN on Facebook and Twitter.
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