One of the only reader-funded, collectively run, professional hard-news sites on the Worldwide Web says it will close its doors on Saturday, September 30 if it does not secure the funding needed to continue daily publishing.  For the past three years, The NewStandard has provided a refreshing alternative to the corporate media, fearlessly tackling the underreported, misreported, ignored and buried stories of our times, always from a public-interest perspective.

Examples of TNS original articles include:

Activists Pose Fresh Challenges to New Recruiter Tactics

‘Destroyed’ FBI Puerto Rico Files Prompt Cover-up Charges

Biotech Firm, Govt. Hid Rice Contamination from Public

But as the publication nears the end of its 2006 fiscal year, collective members say it has become clear TNS will not survive unless its readers and others committed to truly independent media come through with financial support.

In order to keep publishing, The NewStandard needs to raise $5,000 in recurring monthly donations over the next three weeks. Readers can pledge as little as $3 per month toward that goal, and TNS will only start collecting new or increased donation pledges if the $5,000 objective is met, guaranteeing continued operation. The average donation is $12 per month.

Meanwhile, the Far Right’s “alternative” media operations barrel onward into the hard-news field, regularly starting new websites. If The NewStandard ceases publication, conservative and fundamentalist websites will continue to dominate online hard news, just as corporate behemoths presently rule the print and broadcast news realms.

Supporters of independent media interested in more reasons to help The NewStandard, reading any of their 2,800 hard-hitting, original news stories, or pledging tax-deductible donations, can visit http://newstandardnews.net/.