Would you like to see more seasoned journalists added to the team at the New River Voice? Would you like to see better coverage of the news that’s important to you in the NRV? Well all of those things are up to you!

Our plan is to move to a nonprofit journalistic endeavor. But to make this happen, we need your help.We’ve been studying the nonprofit models set forth at Web sites such as:

http://www.stlbeacon.org/

http://www.minnpost.com/

http://www.voicesofsandiego.org/

Also, check out this piece from NPR this week about the future of local news (including the nonprofit model):
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=103371369

We would like the New River Voice—your Voice—to become the small-market, nonprofit model for journalism in the United States. That’s no easy task, and it’s why we must have your help to make this historic leap.

Here’s more about where we want to go with the New River Voice.

The New River Voice will:

• deliver ground-breaking investigative journalism

• explore issues of social justice

• increase civic participation by giving citizens the knowledge and in-depth analysis necessary to become advocates for good government and social progress

• cover the rich arts and culture of the region

• train a new generation of journalists via the use of local college and high school journalism students, including an internship program for collegiate journalists who will essentially serve as apprentices to the veteran journalists on staff

Due to economics and the corporate media being beholden to advertisers and other outside forces, investigative journalism has disappeared in the New River Valley. You know that. We hear your complaints about it all the time. We believe that hard-nosed journalism is essential to freedom and the democratic process and we believe that a nonprofit model is the best way to achieve our goals.

So let us know how you feel about this move by commenting below. Let us know if you want in-depth stories about education, poverty, healthcare, and the environment. Let us know if you want a journalistic entity in the NRV that will be your watchdog that stays vigilant about matters of governmental or corporate corruption. Let us know if you’d love to see former Roanoke Times reporter Tim Thornton as a full-time staffer for the Voice because we sure as heck would love to hire him!

March was our best month ever for traffic on newrivervoice.com and April is shaping up to be just as good. So we know you want an alternative to the existing media in the NRV. With your help—and only with your help—we can not only continue to survive but actually thrive and give you the kind of journalism you deserve.

Write your comments below. But if you are interested in becoming involved in our efforts, either by pledging financial support or volunteering to help with fund-raising events, send us a note to editorial(at)newrivervoice.com. (Sorry we couldn’t link that e-mail address for you, but it allows for way too much spam! So just type it out. We NEED to hear from you!)

To start lining up full-time, seasoned journalists and freelance writers, we have to know that you will support this endeavor. This will have to be a grass-roots effort. We must have the NRV community to take ownership of newrivervoice.com.

We plan to seek grants and have fund-raising events, but the bulk of our financing will have to come from folks like you in the form of $10, $50, or $500. (But hey, a couple donations for $50,000 would also be appreciated!)

This is a nonprofit endeavor. Whatever money you give goes back into serving you. (And it will be a tax write-off once we get our IRS status!) We are still in the process of filing our paperwork with the state and the IRS to get our nonprofit status, but it will help our cause tremendously to know that you want the New River Voice to stick around and that you will support it. So let us hear from you so we can truly be your Voice for the Valley!