Save B!X
Randy Leonard
Portland’s own One True B!X, of Portland Communiqué fame, has posted here that unless he can find a way to fund his on going experiment with blog reporting of the local Portland scene he is going to have to shut down and find a way to make money to live.
It is time for my blogging brothers and sisters to look into their hearts (and…umm, your wallets) and sign up here to keep Portland’s One True B!X in business and reporting on the local scene.
It costs as little as $5 per month to subscribe or contribute here.
Look at it this way. Do you want me to fall back into my old antics and not get called on them as B!X has never been shy to do?
Or, do you want me to go to work each day knowing I have B!X looking over my shoulder making sure I do the right thing…all day every day?
The choice is yours. Think about it Portland. B!X is a bargain.
So get up right now…now I said!… and get your dusty debit card out and save B!X.
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connect with blueoregon
4:27 p.m.
Sep 18, '04
Bravo, Randy. Couldn't have said it better myself.
6:29 p.m.
Sep 18, '04
I agree, Randy--in terms of ROI on the investment, the Communique is a HUGE value. It is, literally, a unique source of information--where else are you going to get news about the political meetings of the state's biggest city? Not the Trib, not the O.
Moreover, there's something here for Oregonians to support for their own sake. I've been blogging for a couple of years, and know the blogosphere as well as anyone can (which is to say, insufficiently). In any case, to my knowledge, there is no such experiment as the one Bix is conducting. We all complain about the media, but no one does anything about it--except Bix. He's trying to fill a niche left gaping, and he's doing yeoman's work. Yet another thing Oregonians can be proud to be leading the way on.
Something in his tip jar, if you can manage it...
Sep 18, '04
Done and done.
After three years unemployment, there's not a lot extra but a bit dropped in b!X's tip jar.
9:57 p.m.
Sep 18, '04
How anyone could resist that plea is beyond me.
Sep 19, '04
Sounds like the free market's working.
Sep 19, '04
There's nothing better out there than b!X for calling people to task when needed. Our monthly contribution has been done.
Sep 19, '04
All of the above move things forward for b!X, but what he really needs is for some Portland (and/or Oregon) organization, institution, company, corporation, university, or wealthy individual to pay him a monthly salary (even a part-time one) for doing what he does. As a one-of-a-kind experiment in 1. citizen journalism, 2. empowering an informed citizenry. 3. local activism on behalf of democracy, and probably all kinds of other "community change agent" categories, b!X and his Communique must fit somewhere on someone's list of social science projects worth funding. Now's the time to put all of your networking skills to work. Once he moves on, he will have moved out.
Sep 20, '04
Randy, you're great. Thanks for reminding everyone to give.
The B!X rules! We need to support him.
Sep 20, '04
John P. Slevin is Back!
We've missed our Libertarian friend who got flamed and outed as a libertarian campaigner. Seems he went missing after he got outed by yours truly on One True's site and here at Blue.
Looks to me like he's gone and gotten a pseudonym as to work under as "John".
Sep 20, '04
It's a shame that B!x can't find a private donor to keep his site up and running. Surely there's some local philanthropist with an axe to grind at city hall that would be willing to dish out some cash. Too bad Paul Allen is "bankrupt."
Sep 20, '04
Rorovitz - Sorry. That's not me. I'm sure you argue best through "outing" and exclusion.
Sep 21, '04
b!X is a fantastic asset to Portland and deserves our support. Is there anything the City Council can do to fund his project as a civic exercise? With your newfound clout, is there anyone you might encourage to be supportive of b!X, perhaps in exchange for advertising or promotion on his site? You are a fantastic problem solver, Mr. Leonard, and I would welcome your intervention. In the meantime, emerging publications like Inside Portland will pay closer attention to city politics, inspired by b!X and his commitment to citizen journalism.
Sep 21, '04
John,
My apologies. And yes, I do argue best by outing and exclusion. Thanks for noticing!
11:16 p.m.
Sep 21, '04
Is there anything the City Council can do to fund his project as a civic exercise?
Heh, aside from being a rather low priority as far as municipal budgets are concerned, this would also be a conflict of interest.
Sep 23, '04
What about the City Council, which has many affluent members and which, perhaps, might be intersted in taking on the Communique as a Council project in citizen empowerment? Aren't there funding sources to which they can apply to get a grant to sustain this experiment in monitoring local government activities and sharing that information publicly?
9:07 a.m.
Sep 24, '04
Did you not see what I just posted about conflict of interest?
10:10 a.m.
Sep 24, '04
B!X--
Some ideas:
Could you become an employee of a nonprofit foundation that would want to fund this sort of experiment?
Could you approach an academic institution, like perhaps the U of O School of Journalism, that might want to fund such a thing as an experiment?
Have you contacted any of the local wealthy folks who might want to serve as a patron? I'm thinking in particular of Michael Powell - who has a strong personal interest in free speech issues.
Have you contacted any local media - like the Big O, the WW, or others - who might want someone to cover what you cover?
You've got a good-size number of influential people who really enjoy what you do and think it's important. Pick up the phone and ask for help.
I think you're right - it's not going to be sustainable on $5/mo contributions. But, one good-sized $1000/month underwriter might help you get to your goal.
2:47 p.m.
Sep 24, '04
Just a quick one and I'll come back later. The problem with the non-profit route is (1) over many months, I've yet to find anything appropriate and (2) funds through non-profit would likely mean giving up making endorsements, because that's partisan political activity.
I'll come back to the other ones later.
3:48 p.m.
Sep 24, '04
Coming back to get to the local media angle. That, unfortunately, comes around to a very subjective pet peeve of mine which is that, in all honesty, I have never been able to write in any context but an entirely personal and autonomous one. No matter how much freedom may or may not exist under one publication or another, (1) I have a writing roadblock in my head when I'm not writing for myself; and (2) One of the heavy draws of doing what I've been doing is the sheer experiment of finding my own way thru the thicket of media ethics issues -- for better and for worse -- without the safety net of an institution or an editor.
This is one of the tricky bits I have a difficult time explaining to people, because in essence I'm saying that I'd rather not write about this stuff at all than not be writing about it for myself. I've never figured out how to adequately explain that.