Imagine if there were one website we could open with our morning coffee that felt like walking onto the global town square -- a one-stop shop with reliable news, insightful analysis, and inspirational storytelling that for the first time offered solutions and a way to take action on the issues we most care about!
Now imagine if 16 million of us were behind this cutting edge site -- that’s a bigger circulation than the Washington Post or the Times! It’s a bold goal, but we've spent months shaping the concept and recruiting an initial team of top journalists. Now the Avaaz Daily Briefing is nearly ready to launch.
Old media is beholden to corporate owners and advertisers and its news is often cynical and disempowering. The Daily Briefing will be owned by us and driven by us -- people-powered media for a better world. If just 20,000 of us chip in a small amount today, we can roll it out and hire the best editors, writers, infographic geniuses, and developers. Click to help Avaaz become the media:
https://secure.avaaz.org/en/avaaz_becomes_the_media/?bGglBbb&v=18281
Earlier this year, an astonishing 97% of the Avaaz community voted for this idea in our annual poll. Last week, we took it for a test drive and the response was fantastic! For the first time ever, our movement became the media -- together we countered the mainstream "Muslim Rage" coverage by sharing a post that responsibly contextualized the Muslim protests and challenged Newsweek's sensationalism.
It’s mind-blowing to think how this project could evolve. If just 20,000 of us donate today, here’s what we’ll do:
- Staff up the tiny team currently running the Daily Briefing. Some of the world’s most experienced and talented journalists and media pros have approached us to come aboard because they are tired of corporate and conflict journalism and can see how a 16 million-member media machine can strengthen our democracies and help change our world.
- Build the world’s best technology so community and democracy rule. With cutting edge crowd-sourcing and citizen journalism tech builds, we’ll all get to produce content and vote things up and down so that stories are featured based on merit and relevance to us.
- Tell the good news. Instead of bombarding us solely with stories that portray the horrors of humanity and the destruction of our planet, the Daily Briefing will investigate and showcase inspiring stories of hope and courage.
- Give a voice to the untold stories. Avaaz members have funded critical citizen journalism to break media blackouts in hotspots of repression across the world. Now, the Daily Briefing will offer an avenue for voices and issues that are ignored by corporate-owned media.
- Provide world-class analysis and political entrepreneurship. Daily Briefing staff will cut through the language that alienates us, instead providing solid analysis and new paths to confront the biggest challenges of our time.
Click here to donate and help launch the Daily Briefing:
https://secure.avaaz.org/en/avaaz_becomes_the_media/?bGglBbb&v=18281
The march of democracy that is sweeping our world is remaking many of our old institutions. For 5 years now, we have worked together to reform politics across the world -- and it is working. But politics and media are two sides of the same coin -- one cannot change without change in the other and we are governed as much by media as we are by governments. It's time to take them both back.
With hope,
Ricken, Dalia, Maria Paz, Alice, Antonia, Ari, Heather, Wissam and the whole Avaaz team
PS - In case you're mulling it over, here are 11 more reasons to donate to the Avaaz Daily Briefing :)
Reason 1 – Daily Briefing is Avaaz 2.0
It’s a whole new dimension of the product Avaaz has been putting out for years. We are already the most successful, viral online community ever -- this will take us to the next level.
Reason 2 – Daily Briefing is Independent, Impartial and Trustworthy
Avaaz has always been totally independent, taking no money from governments or corporations, ensuring that our voice is exclusively determined by the values of our members and not by any large funder or agenda. Now, 100% of the Avaaz budget comes from small online donations. This means that the only editorial agenda for the Daily Briefing is the people's agenda, and we will not shy away from speaking truth to power.
Reason 3 – Daily Briefing is People Reviewed, Approved and Powered
The team will create and maintain feedback and testing mechanisms to ensure Avaaz members exert quality control over the Daily Briefing and are always able to hold us accountable for producing the highest quality content possible.
Make a donation here: https://secure.avaaz.org/en/avaaz_becomes_the_media/?bGglBbb&v=18281
Reason 4 – Daily Briefing Sees Deeply and Explains Simply
The Daily Briefing will communicate the most incisive and empowering understanding available of world events. But our team will remain fiercely faithful to the principle that important public debate should be accessible and engaging for all citizens. No matter how complex the issue, there is a simple, concise and engaging way of explaining it. This never means dumbing down, it means seeing deeply in order to explain simply.
Reason 5 – Daily Briefing is Briefing and Equipment for the Citizen
The Daily Briefing will always treat readers like prime ministers and presidents -- they’re busy, they make critically important decisions about how to spend their time and they deserve to have the most important and most relevant information and analysis.
Reason 6 – The Daily Briefing is Not News, it’s Better
It represents, in part, a return to the soul of journalism -- campaigning journalism that upholds the public interest and holds power accountable.
Donate now: https://secure.avaaz.org/en/avaaz_becomes_the_media/?bGglBbb&v=18281
Reason 7 – Avaaz has No Bureaucracy
Avaaz is a massive network of citizens, but our organization is absolutely tiny -- just 55 full time campaigners with operational and technology support. Most large, global NGOs have hundreds or even thousands of staff. Our small size means we have no time for red tape, layers of management or being focused on anything but getting results.
Reason 8 – Avaaz is Regularly Audited and Fiscally Responsible
There's a lot of fear out there about misuse of donated money. Most of the fear is misplaced –- most organizations are filled with good people trying to do good things. With Avaaz you can be sure -– partly because we're required by law to be audited every 12 months. This audit thoroughly checks every aspect of our books and financial practices. We've been audited 6 times since we launched and every time been given a squeaky-clean bill of health (for details, click here).
Reason 9 – Avaaz has a World-Class Team That Does Outstanding Work
Campaigning, advocacy and social change are serious and demanding business – the more competent the team, the more impact our donations have. Avaaz has always attracted some of the best campaigners and advocates in the world. Many of our campaign directors joined us after being CEOs of successful advocacy organizations and most have degrees from the top universities in the world. Our Daily Briefing team will be made up of top writers, journalists and editors.
Donate now: https://secure.avaaz.org/en/avaaz_becomes_the_media/?bGglBbb&v=18281
Reason 10 – Avaaz is Political (this really matters)
Most charities offer tax deductibility for donations. But this means that they are, in a way, partially taxpayer funded and governments use that to place a very thick set of rules on what they can and can't do. Chief among them is restricting what they can say to criticize, support or oppose a politician. Avaaz is very rare in that our donations are not tax-deductible, leaving us 100% free to say and do whatever we need to to get leaders to listen to people -- which will be crucial to keeping the Daily Briefing independent, impartial and trustworthy.
Reason 11 – Like Avaaz, the Daily Briefing Will be the Only Operation of its Kind -- Ever, Anywhere
Avaaz is the world's first and only multi-million member, high-tech, people-powered, multi-issue, genuinely global campaigning community. No other movement can rapidly mobilize large-scale, coordinated democratic pressure in over 193 countries within 24 hours. Now, the Daily Briefing could be our next step in record breaking if we become the most read and shared global, non-profit, people-powered news website -- ever, anywhere. But it can only happen if 20,000 of us chip in what we can today.
Make a secure donation to power the Avaaz Daily Briefing:
https://secure.avaaz.org/en/avaaz_becomes_the_media/?bGglBbb&v=18281
