What happens to a democracy when only the rich can afford to get reliable news?Friend,

Since the start of 2023, major layoffs have been announced at MSNBC,
Gannett, Insider, NPR, Gimlet Media, the Los Angeles Times, and
FiveThirtyEight. Vice Media filed for bankruptcy. MTV News and BuzzFeed
News shut down entirely.

What do all these news outlets have in common? They are all free
outlets, largely funded by advertising dollars.

Meanwhile, the news outlets that are doing well in terms of revenue and
profits are the ones with expensive subscription fees and paywalls that
most Americans can’t afford, like The Wall Street Journal, Financial
Times, and The New York Times.

So what happens to a democracy when only the rich can afford to get
reliable news—and the majority of working-class and low-income voters
are left with cheaply produced TV news and whatever happens to be going
viral on social media?

And what are the consequences of this crisis in news access at a time
when one of America’s major political parties is in the thrall of an
authoritarian and the other remains deeply aligned with corporate power
and Wall Street?

This is the alarming situation we find ourselves in as we launch our
Mid-Year Campaign with a must-reach goal of $80,000 by July 1. Every
day, Common Dreams produces quality, online journalism for our millions
of readers free of charge—but we simply cannot do that without the
financial support of our readers.

So if you can afford it, we’re asking each of you to please make a
donation to our Mid-Year Campaign and help save the free, quality
journalism that democracy needs to survive.
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With solidarity and gratitude,

Kimberly Monaghan
Board Chair
on behalf of the entire Common Dreams team

PS: Common Dreams relies on its sustaining donors to keep us going full
steam ahead. Will you become a monthly donor today?
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