Radical News Site Common Dreams Offers Truly Independent Media

Common Dreams is an admirable news source that promotes humanist views with zero corporate interference. Unlike the majority of left leaning media, the site accepts zero advertising revenue – despite a massive reach which has corporations clamouring to adorn their products with the invaluable 'ethical' branding that would come with a Common Dreams stamp of approval. However, the site need funds to continue their existence. In a world where opinions are everywhere, but rigour is a lot thinner on the ground, we feel it's pretty important for sites that offer alternatives to the corporate agenda, without descending into conspiracy blog gibberish, to survive. If every reader donated the cost of buying a single broadsheet to Common Dreams, we're pretty sure they'd be good for a couple of years, which seems like a pretty solid deal.

Here's what CD leader Bethany Snow has to say on the matter – 

"Nearly every day I get emails from corporate PR people wanting to advertise on Common Dreams.

They want to embed links within our articles. They want flashing ads in our sidebars. They want to rent front page real estate on Common Dreams. Sometimes they even want to “sponsor” an oped on an issue of their choosing.

And they are willing to pay us for it. But we’re not selling.

By design, Common Dreams has always been independent and we are dedicated to keeping it that way.

We believe when independent media becomes dependent on paid advertising it compromises its integrity, morality, and commitment to the truth.

In short, it is the opposite of everything Common Dreams stands for.

But the thing is, we don’t have deep pockets. We don’t have an endowment or a trust fund. And that is why we are writing to you today.

We need you. Our readers have been the key to our survival since the very beginning and we need you now more than ever.

It has been a rough year and it is absolutely critical for our survival that we meet our Fall fundraising goal of $50,000. Can we count on your help today?

Every dollar really does make a difference.

We have to keep fighting. We have to stand together. We won’t sell out."

We're united at Ransom Note in wanting to access news beyond the mainstream, so we'll be bunging them a few quid, and we'd encourage you to as well. Or you could keep on enjoying the fact that the Daily Mail is the most widely read news source on the planet…