The Fund for Authentic Journalism, Inc.

What is the Salon? / ¿Qué es el Salón?

The Salon of Authentic Journalism will bring together journalists and organizers who are actively driving change in their communities. Set to take place in Mexico in April 2025, this gathering will unite 32 experienced practitioners from different regions around the world to exchange strategies, share victories, and strengthen our collective efforts to help social movements achieve their goals - but we need your help to make it happen.

El Salón de Periodismo Auténtico reunirá a periodistas y organizadores que están impulsando activamente cambios en sus comunidades. A realizarse en México en abril de 2025, este encuentro acercará a 32 profesionales experimentados de diferentes regiones del mundo para intercambiar estrategias, compartir victorias y fortalecer nuestros esfuerzos colectivos para ayudar a los movimientos sociales a alcanzar sus objetivos. Pero necesitamos tu ayuda para hacerlo realidad.

[ESPAÑOL ABAJO]

Why Now?

Since the end of the School of Authentic Journalism in 2017, our world has been dramatically transformed. We've witnessed remarkable victories that show us what's possible when communities organize strategically - from reproductive rights advances in Latin America to Indigenous communities successfully defending their territories against transnational mining companies to successful grassroots labor-organizing efforts in the U.S.

Yet at the same time, we're seeing hard-won rights being rolled back in many countries, corporate interests gaining unprecedented power, and the tools of mass communication being turned against the communities fighting for justice. More people than ever are creating media, yet achieving meaningful change seems increasingly difficult. Traditional tactics that worked in the past are falling short, while those who already have power are quickly adapting, using new technologies and techniques to maintain the status quo.

This is precisely why the Salon is crucial now. These contrasting realities - of both victories and setbacks - hold vital lessons. The strategies behind recent movement successes need to be shared and adapted. The innovations in community organizing and strategic communication need to be analyzed and built upon. Most importantly, the people driving these changes need to be connected.

The Salon creates this vital space for exchange and strategic planning. By bringing together experienced practitioners from the frontlines of social movements, we can collectively analyze what's working, share emerging strategies, and build a stronger network of support for authentic journalism worldwide. But this can only happen with your support.

The Stakes

We are celebrating the fact that we have already:

But we need to raise $32,000 to make this vision a reality. The stakes are high.

Without this gathering, successful movements and victories risk going undocumented and unshared. Critical strategies that could benefit other communities might remain isolated in their local contexts. Opportunities for cross-movement collaboration could be missed, while the gap between grassroots movements and those who oppose them continues to widen. This is our chance to strengthen the networks and knowledge that make change possible.

How You Can Help

We need financial support to make this gathering possible. The costs we need to cover include travel stipends so participants can join us, venue and accommodation expenses to house everyone, food to sustain us through intensive work sessions, and the workshop materials and supplies that will enable productive collaboration.

Every donation, no matter the size, brings us closer to making this vision a reality. Your contribution will help create a space where vital knowledge can be shared, strategies can be developed, and movements can be strengthened.

You can also make a difference by spreading the word about our campaign. Share it on your social media pages, or reach out directly to friends and colleagues via email or text. Stay connected by signing up for updates about the Salon's development - your engagement helps build the community that will make this gathering truly impactful.

Our Commitment

The Salon is built on shared leadership and consensus decision-making - our governance structure reflects the more democratic world we wish to see emerge. Our organizing committee includes eight volunteers with diverse experiences in journalism, organizing, and social movements. Every hour of planning, every piece of work, every decision made is done entirely on a volunteer basis - there are no paid staff or consultants. We work in partnership with the Fund for Authentic Journalism, a trusted non-profit that has supported similar initiatives since 2006.

While our committee is deeply committed to this vision, we can't make it happen alone. Your support isn't just funding a gathering - it's investing in a movement that will strengthen Authentic Journalism and community organizing worldwide. The skills, strategies, and connections built at the Salon will ripple out through communities and movements for years to come.

The world needs these stories to be told and these strategies to be shared. Don't let this opportunity slip away. Join us in making it happen.

The Salon of Authentic Journalism is fiscally sponsored by the Fund for Authentic Journalism, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.

Alternative Ways to Donate

While donating through GoFundMe is the simplest method, we also welcome contributions through other channels:

By Mail:

Send a check payable to "Fund for Authentic Journalism Inc."

P.O. Box 18

Leeds, MA 01053

By Bank Transfer:

Fund for Authentic Journalism Inc.

Florence Bank

85 Main St, Florence, MA 01062

Account / Cuenta: 1983109018

Routing: 211871688

SWIFT/BIC: FLOCUS532

Cryptocurrency:

USDT (BEP20): 0xdf3af5334f4ec132b0097adcc6bc1dbe55292752

Important: If you donate through any of these alternative methods, please contact us so we can properly acknowledge your contribution and add it to our campaign total.

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[ESPAÑOL]

¿Por qué ahora?

Desde el fin de la Escuela de Periodismo Auténtico en 2017, nuestro mundo ha sido dramáticamente transformado. Hemos sido testigos de victorias notables que nos demuestran lo que es posible cuando las comunidades se organizan estratégicamente, desde avances en derechos reproductivos en Latinoamérica hasta comunidades indígenas defendiendo exitosamente sus territorios contra empresas mineras transnacionales, y exitosos esfuerzos de organización laboral de base en Estados Unidos.

Sin embargo, al mismo tiempo, estamos viendo cómo se revocan derechos arduamente ganados en muchos países, cómo los intereses corporativos adquieren un poder sin precedentes, y cómo las herramientas de comunicación masiva se vuelven contra las comunidades que luchan por la justicia. Más personas que nunca están generando contenido, pero lograr un cambio significativo parece cada vez más difícil. Las tácticas tradicionales que funcionaban en el pasado están quedando cortas, mientras que quienes ya tienen poder se adaptan rápidamente, utilizando nuevas tecnologías y técnicas para mantener el statu quo.

Es precisamente por esto que el Salón es crucial ahora. Estas realidades contrastantes – tanto de victorias como de retrocesos – contienen lecciones vitales. Las estrategias detrás de los éxitos recientes de los movimientos necesitan ser compartidas y adaptadas. Las innovaciones en organización comunitaria y comunicación estratégica deben ser analizadas y desarrolladas. Más importante aún, las personas que impulsan estos cambios necesitan estar conectadas.

El Salón crea este espacio vital para el intercambio y la planificación estratégica. Al reunir a profesionales experimentados de las primeras líneas de los movimientos sociales, podemos analizar colectivamente lo que está funcionando, compartir estrategias emergentes y construir una red más fuerte de apoyo para el periodismo auténtico en todo el mundo. Pero esto solo puede suceder con tu apoyo.

Lo que está en juego

Estamos celebrando que ya hemos:

Pero necesitamos recaudar $32,000 para hacer realidad esta visión. Lo que está en juego es importante.

Sin este encuentro, los movimientos exitosos y las victorias corren el riesgo de quedar sin documentar y sin compartir. Estrategias críticas que podrían beneficiar a otras comunidades podrían permanecer aisladas en sus contextos locales. Oportunidades de colaboración entre movimientos podrían perderse, mientras la brecha entre los movimientos de base y quienes se oponen a ellos continúa ampliándose. Ésta es nuestra oportunidad de fortalecer las redes y el conocimiento que hacen posible el cambio.

Cómo puedes ayudar

Necesitamos apoyo financiero para hacer posible este encuentro. Los costos que necesitamos cubrir incluyen estipendios de viaje para que los participantes puedan asistir, gastos de sede y alojamiento para albergar a todos, comida para sostenernos durante las intensas sesiones de trabajo, y los materiales y suministros necesarios para una colaboración productiva.

Cada donación, sin importar el monto, nos acerca a hacer realidad esta visión. Tu contribución ayudará a crear un espacio donde se pueda compartir conocimiento vital, desarrollar estrategias y fortalecer movimientos.

También puedes marcar la diferencia compartiendo nuestra campaña en tus redes sociales o contactando directamente a amigos y colegas por correo electrónico o mensaje. Mantente conectado registrándote para recibir actualizaciones sobre el desarrollo del Salón. Tu participación ayuda a construir la comunidad que hará que este encuentro sea verdaderamente impactante.

Nuestro compromiso

El Salón se basa en el liderazgo compartido y la toma de decisiones por consenso: nuestra estructura de gobernanza refleja el mundo más democrático que deseamos ver emerger. Nuestro comité organizador incluye a ocho voluntarios con experiencias diversas en periodismo, organización y movimientos sociales. Cada hora de planificación, cada pieza de trabajo, cada decisión tomada se realiza de forma completamente voluntaria: no hay personal ni consultores remunerados. Trabajamos en asociación con el Fondo para el Periodismo Auténtico, una organización sin fines de lucro de confianza que ha apoyado iniciativas similares desde 2006.

Si bien nuestro comité está profundamente comprometido con esta visión, no podemos hacerla realidad solos. Tu apoyo no solo financiará un encuentro, sino que será una inversión en un movimiento que fortalecerá el Periodismo Auténtico y la organización comunitaria a nivel mundial. Las habilidades, estrategias y conexiones construidas en el Salón se extenderán a través de comunidades y movimientos durante años venideros.

El mundo necesita que estas historias sean contadas y estas estrategias compartidas. No dejes pasar esta oportunidad. Sé parte y hazlo posible.

El Salón de Periodismo Auténtico es patrocinado fiscalmente por el Fondo para el Periodismo Auténtico, una organización sin fines de lucro 501(c)(3).

Formas alternativas de donar

Si bien donar a través de GoFundMe es el método más simple, también aceptamos contribuciones a través de otros canales:

Por correo:

Envía un cheque pagadero a "Fund for Authentic Journalism Inc."

P.O. Box 18

Leeds, MA 01053

Por transferencia bancaria:

Fund for Authentic Journalism Inc.

Florence Bank

85 Main St, Florence, MA 01062

Cuenta: 1983109018

Routing: 211871688

SWIFT/BIC: FLOCUS532

Criptomonedas:

USDT (BEP20): 0xdf3af5334f4ec132b0097adcc6bc1dbe55292752

Importante: Si donas a través de cualquiera de estos métodos alternativos, por favor contáctanos para que podamos reconocer adecuadamente tu contribución y añadirla al total de nuestra campaña.

"Every memoir reminds us of the faraway and long ago, of loss and change, of persons and places beyond recall."

- Abigail McCarthy

We at the nonprofit Fund for Authentic Journalism have supported the work, publication, translation and training of hundreds of independent journalists and communicators for sixteen years.

One of those journalists who has especially afflicted the comfortable and comforted the afflicted is Al Giordano.

We celebrate that Al recently passed the five-year mark after chemo and radiation treatment and today is cancer free.

And we’re thrilled that he’s finally ready to write the book we’ve all been urging him to write.

We’ll tell you more about this book, but if you’re one of those who already know you want to read it, please hit that donate button now.

Al Giordano has published thousands of his own investigative reports, news stories and cutting-edge political analysis — and he’s made it possible for so many others to publish thousands more — at Narco News and elsewhere. And there’s a story behind the stories.

For the past seven years, Al has brought readers of his América newsletter behind the scenes to share secret histories of the epic community organizing battles, political campaigns, and frontline reporting around the world he has organized and reported. Stories that can only come from the lived experience of winning political and organizing campaigns, and of how an authentic journalist rights wrongs “and actually makes things happen,” as the late journalist Gary Webb described Giordano, “like real journalists are supposed to do.”

Some of us have known Al for more than 45 years. He arrived in the hills of New England as a teenager from New York already experienced in political organizing in the streets of the South Bronx, with a national presidential campaign, and other grassroots organizing under his belt. He quickly emerged as l’enfant terrible of a local No Nukes movement that shut down an operating nuclear power plant. It was Al’s penchant for telling us stories of those campaigns, their tactics, of what worked, and of what did not, that inspired so many of us to get off our asses — and learn how to win real change.

The world could use a book like that right now.

The goal is to raise $50,000 to support the writer, top-shelf editing, transcription of more than 100 interviews Al has done with eyewitnesses and participants along his road, layout, design, and promotion of the book.

We’ve followed and supported Al’s work for decades. Here are just a few highlights that we hope he’ll recount in a book or books:

Political Campaigns: As an organizer and, later, a journalist Al has now reported or participated in a dozen US presidential campaigns. He also managed and staffed 27 electoral campaigns — 26 of those were victorious. Al knows politics — and that’s just one part of his unique experiences.

Nonviolence in Action: In the No Nukes movement of the 70s and 80s, Al was arrested 27 times for nonviolent civil disobedience, which brought a whole new set of stories for him to tell of his times behind bars (in one jail he and his high school buddy, Jon, and the rest of the inmates caused so much trouble inside that the two 18-year-olds were kicked out of jail after 20 days). Elder organizers trained him and he in turn has trained hundreds of activists and organizers around the world in the tactics and techniques of smart nonviolence.

Organizing Battles: Abbie Hoffman met Al in 1981, wrote about him as “the best under-30 political organizer in the United States,” and made Al his righthand man in organizing battles from Pennsylvania to the Great Lakes to Nicaragua to New York City. We’ve heard some of those war stories. We want the whole world to be able to read them.

Journalism and Media: In his late twenties, Al started in journalism as a staff reporter for the Valley Advocate and later at the Boston Phoenix. He was also a daily AM talk radio host, Internet journalism pioneer and, later, a pirate radio broadcaster. “For much of the ‘80s and ‘90s,” The Boston Globe reported, “Al Giordano cut a wide swath among Massachusetts journalists and political junkies.”

Conflict Zones and Revolutionary Movements: In Al’s thirties, he left the USA for Mexico, lived in, and reported from the rebel indigenous communities of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation. Throughout Latin America, Al reported from conflict zones, coups d’etat, and in defense of human rights and social movements throughout Mexico, Bolivia, Venezuela, Brazil, Honduras and other lands. He was in Tahrir Square in Cairo, Egypt during the Arab Spring, interviewing the youths who toppled a dictator. Few journalists have Al’s experience in community organizing and social movements to be able to find the lessons in their stories — of what worked, and what did not — for future activists, organizers and the media that cover them.

Internet Press Freedom Pioneer: At 40 he launched the online newspaper Narco News and was quickly sued by the National Bank of Mexico for reports on narco-trafficking by its owner. Al, Narco News, and his codefendant Mario Menéndez, won that case. That landmark New York Supreme Court decision established First Amendment rights for all Internet journalists as the law of the land.

A “Paradigm Shift” in Political Reporting: Al’s seminal work reporting on Barack Obama’s 2007 and 2008 presidential campaign from six swing states gave readers the inside look at the campaign’s training for organizers like no other. He later accepted invitations to the White House and attended the first-ever Obama Summit in Chicago. Only his newsletter subscribers have so far read that story — Giordano and Obama, in the same room — and not surprisingly another great story ensued.

Chef and Songwriter: Al also sings and he’s an award-winning chef. We’ve attended his concerts, sung along with his songs, and dined at his table. We imagine there will be plenty of food and song in this book, too.

We’ve been with Al throughout his cancer, his chemo and 35 radiation treatments, and a difficult recovery. We were there: He nearly died. We worried for him — and that his knowledge could have died with him. He spent the last five years away from public life, declining to make major plans to find out, first, if he’d reach the five-year milestone, and to focus on getting healthy again. We’re excited that he’s finally ready to take on a new project and that he’s making it this book.

If anyone doesn’t like what Al writes or anything else about him, and demands “to speak to the manager,” we don’t know who, if anyone, that might be but it’s not us: We are not the manager of Al or of any other journalist. You can read more about our press freedom philosophy here.

We vouch for Al Giordano. His honesty and courage carry receipts. His sense of ethics and shared humanity are exemplary. But that’s not why we’re supporting this book.

We’re backing this book because Al Giordano is a generational writer and storyteller who has gone out and lived the stories he tells, and has the skill to put them into words like few others.

Knowing many of his stories, we believe this book is going to be as Al’s life has been as a relentless voice for the underdog: Unable to be put down.

Please join us in welcoming Al back to work and consider whatever donation you can afford to make it so. Thank you in advance for becoming a ground-floor supporter of this book.

Have an idea, suggestion or offer of another kind of support (not all donations are monetary) to promote this work? Send us a message here.

Rules of this platform: No raffles, sweepstakes, giveaways, or promotions are offered in exchange for any donations made through GoFundMe.

The people of Ukraine have asked the West for support in their defense from the invasion by the Russian Armed Forces. Governments and non-governmental organizations have sent humanitarian aid, defensive arms and funds. We urge all who want to directly support Ukraine to continue to donate to the registered nonprofits that are fundraising for that purpose.

The Journalism Situation Room is not raising funds to send to Ukraine, but, rather, to raise the modest amount necessary to support better reporting and analysis by US and Western journalists about the conflict.

Much of the international media has covered the conflict as if it is a traditional war rather than what it is: an imperialist occupation that did not understand the will of the Ukrainian people to defend their home with guerrilla tactics and mass civil resistance. The Journalism Situation Room will create a more accurate map and report the conflict in ways that help the global public better understand the dynamics on the ground in Ukraine. This project will also measure the effectiveness of aid provided by world governments and non-governmental organizations in the logic of guerrilla warfare, civil resistance, human rights and authentic democracy.

The nonprofit Fund for Authentic Journalism has asked veteran international journalist Al Giordano – a US citizen with decades of experience reporting from conflict zones, coups d’etat, drug wars and civil resistance movements from Latin America to the Arab Spring, and also in the United States – to coordinate the Journalism Situation Room and report regular updates of the map from the perspective of a popular insurgency against an invading power. This month marks five years since March 16, 2017, when Al completed radiation and chemotherapy treatment for cancer, and today he is finally healed and strong enough to lead this ambitious project. That map will look different from most of the conflict maps today published by international news media.

The Journalism Situation Room will also, when necessary, offer correction and media criticism when large news organizations inaccurately report the story, while generating the map and analysis that conscientious news reporters will be able to use to enrich their own work.

All donors will receive a thank-you letter that additionally offers a gift copy of Issue #142 of Al Giordano’s América newsletter (Two Weeks that Shook the World, March 15, 2022) to those who respond and request it: 26 pages of reporting and analysis of what has happened in Ukraine, what happens next, and what citizens of the world can do about it.

Donors of $50 or more will be offered a 2022 gift subscription to the newsletter which reports on civil resistance movements, elections, current events, organizing, strategy, tactics and history in the US, Latin America and the world. Subscribers also receive invitations to attend live teleconference conversations with Al and other journalists, organizers and observers.

A better-informed world citizenry is necessary for any democratic people to succeed in their self-defense. With your support, we will raise the modest resources necessary to launch a project on this scale to report the real dynamics of the self-defense being waged by the Ukrainian people. This project will provide a more accurate, regularly updated, map and reports showing the real on-the-ground dynamics of their fierce insurgency of now. The cause of Ukraine is the struggle of all humankind – that includes civil society and journalists, too.

We invite you to become a founding supporter of the Journalism Situation Room by donating to this project. Accurate and informed reporting and analysis will help civil society in the United States and around the world engage in more effective, better-informed and knowledgeable solidarity during this crucial moment in human history. Thank you for making it possible with your donation.