donnelly center
gil rebollar
gloria cuadraz
john carnwath
rachel johnson
eric reyes (los amigos de la comunidad, inc.)
I hope this note finds you well! I’m reaching out on behalf of People’s Press, the Valley’s first and only grassroots nonprofit newspaper dedicated to amplifying everyday voices and nurturing homegrown voices through a little something called…
Citizen Journalism.
What is that, you ask? Well, I did a little digging and found that the first modern instance of Citizen Journalism sprouted up in South Korea at the turn of the century, but according to some accounts it can be traced as far back as Benjamin Franklin (and that historical fairytale). Nothing against the guy, personally I didn’t know him and I don’t claim to. But what I do know, is that most of what we have seen, heard, and read about since birth is straight up propaganda.
The text books they taught us from? Written by the oppressors. What we see on social media? Probably CGI, AI, or some other type of GMO (ha). And what we read in the newspapers? FAKE. At this point, that’s no joke. And maybe it never was. Everyone you see on mainstream media is bought, every local paper still standing must bow to their advertisers, and overall…
Traditional media
is dead.
And ever since I did my rounds in local journalism, I can say with certainty that the industry has three major problems (probably more, but I’ll spare you).
- Doesn’t pay a living wage – or doesn’t pay at all (long story short, wage theft is real)
- Forces you to be “unbiased” – which is Orwellian code for “silence your moral compass”
- Doesn’t value ordinary or far-out voices – basically if you’re not cut like the rest, you can leave
All that to say, I lasted just over one annual news cycle before I realized both my talent and time were being wasted, and I was essentially paying them to publish my stories…
“Nobody says it
like you.”
…Before those stories, stances, and ways of life fade away forever.
Marginalized,
Forgotten, or
Silenced altogether.
Our brand of Citizen Journalism lifts up the opinions and points of view of the average resident…
I am confident that People’s Press is the working blueprint for the future of decentralized media…
on the land that
raised them.
No clickbait headlines, AI generated blurbs, or sandbox politics here, folks!
Thank you from the bottom of our hearts đź’š
People’s Press
A voice that sounds like yours… because it is.