Help Launch the Journalism Situation Room

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.