Colombia Reports depends on your contributions for its survival. Times are harder than ever and financial support must be stepped up.
I’ve been running this website for 11 years, but have never seen the freedom of press as repressed as today. You may not notice, but as a reporter this repression is very real, it weighs like a ton.
I’ve had to deal with the fact that three colleagues were murdered in the past three months. This is hard. I hope you can imagine the pain and the fear this generates.
Smart people would censor themselves to avoid possible repercussions, but being smart has never been my strong point. Being a stubborn loudmouth is.
My resistance to censor reporting has its benefits, it’s why Colombia Reports has more than 150,000 readers per months and is read by foreign ministries around the world.
But it also has its repercussions. Some of you may remember Migration refused to renew my visa last year, an issue I expect to reoccur later this year. The cyber attacks are constant and I assume I can’t have a private phone conversation.
I have canceled the internship program, because I don’t believe it’s responsible under the current circumstances and I can’t afford it.
The biggest problem continues to be the money. Of the >150,000 readers, 18,000 Facebook “fans” and 21,000 followers on Twitter, only 126 people contributed a total of $975 in July.
With this I can pay the server bill, rent, taxes and internet, but to guarantee the sustainability of Colombia Reports, reader contributions from readers must increase drastically.
I need, for example, a laptop in order to be able to travel. My phone is seven years old and presumably on its last legs.
I would also like to visit my parents once every so often as they are getting old.
I have always been a fervent supporter of free news, because I believe everybody should have access to the same information and not everybody can afford a paid subscription to news.
For this reason I call on those who can afford a subscription to become a patron, there’s perks.
If you can miss $2 or $5 dollars a month, you can subscribe to Colombia’s news alerts to your Whatsapp and the weekly newsletter. If you contribute $10 a month you can additionally request access to the data I have been gathering for the past decade and can consult me for whatever information you are looking for.
If you contribute $25 a month, you will additionally receive the monthly political update. For $75 a month, you will receive all of the above plus the monthly security update.
I believe Colombia Reports is important. If you do too, or if you want to receive one of the aforementioned perks, please become a patron using the link to Colombia Reports’ Patreon page below.
I am going to try to lift this website’s reader contributions to $1,500 a month. With your help, this will work.