Give us a hand

Volunteers create this paper, and subscribers and advertisers support us generously. But we need some capital to jump up to the next level. Please consider helping

The Republic struggles financially. Produced and distributed entirely by volunteers, there are nonetheless inescapable costs, most notably at the printer's shop and post office.

When finances allow, more costs will be incurred for a real office, updated equipment, research staff and expenses, and remunerations for contributors and editors.

There are six potential sources of revenue for a newspaper, only three of which The Republic feels comfortable accepting: proceeds from subscriptions, revenue from advertising sales, and anonymous donations. The remaining three sources we do not feel comfortable soliciting. They are government granting agencies, other large private granting agencies, and any large donations from known sources.

We are under no illusions at The Republic regarding the weight of our influence-at present. We are also not oblivious to the potential weight of influence this paper may obtain in the future. We have chosen to avoid certain kinds of funding that could significantly help us today in the interests of preserving what may evolve into an important track record of independence in the future.

Newspapers exist for a variety of reasons, chief amongst them being to earn good return on investment for shareholders. Advertising revenue is the chief source of finance for such a newspaper. No one can make the mistake of imagining The Republic is such a paper. We didn't accept advertising in our first several months, and we have always sold advertising on our editorial qualities more than on our printing quantities-which is a much tougher sell. Our advertising revenue is meager as a result.

Another reason a newspaper is called into existence is to advocate for some point of view or identifiable group of people on a set of issues affected by public policy. Such a newspaper most often has a foundation established to finance the production of the paper, and it carries in its masthead a thorough description of its specific purpose. The Republic is published by no foundation and advocates no particular point of view or for any identifiable group of people, and is supported by no money raised in such a fashion.

Some newspapers exist to propagate the ideas generated by active political interests like registered parties, taxpayer associations, or think-tanks. These will often find their financing through contributions raised by the party or association. The Republic has no political affiliations nor represents an association of any kind and hence enjoys no access to their accounts.

We are not like any of these other kinds of newspapers. The Republic exists because those who work on creating it believe that it is good for the world, as well as for one's country, one's province, one's city, one's household, and one's self, to encounter written thought that contests and modifies the majority view on important issues of the day. We advocate for no particular view on any particular issue; rather, we advocate for a wide variety of views on a broad spectrum of issues.

We endeavor to listen, watch, and read about all that is going on in the world, to think about it, and to pen new and thoughtful reflections upon it, with the purpose in mind that readers will be caused to look at, listen to, and read about the world as well, and to think about it and arrive at their own new and thoughtful reflections upon it.

We don't know if the left wing or center or right wing parties have the right solutions to any of the problems that confront us as citizens and overseers of public policy. But we are absolutely certain that if solutions exist to any of the big problems, they will only be found in the milieu of an aware citizenry sufficiently informed of issues and reasonable opinions on them to effectively assess the value of those solutions proffered by political parties or interested groups.

The Republic is not entirely altruistic. We aim to develop a strong relationship with a growing number of readers over a long enough period of time to eventually allow us to crack the juggernaut of influence currently monopolized by a few very powerful and highly agendized owners of the large media companies. We happen to think that influence in the thinking of the citizenry, and ultimately on the policies of governments, would be a good thing for us at The Republic to earn and use. It's not because we think we know so much more than anyone else. We think it would also be good if that sort of influence were earned and used by all sorts of different people.

Our method of gaining that influence is to respect our readers' intelligence, share with them our consideration of everything we find of interest happening in the world, and to suggest to them some potentially fruitful opinions to form on these events. If we prove right in our judgments, that would bear out in how events transpire. Then hopefully readers will recall where they heard the right judgment first, and come to count on us to continue calling shots correctly. That would be influence, and that's what this paper exists to win.

The process takes a long time. Also, because we advocate for no one and represent no one's interests, we don't have any built-in source of revenue to bridge the gap between who we are now, and what we expect to be in the future. Moreover, because we as observers and writers wish to hoard whatever influence we earn for ourselves, we are not inclined to sell our influence to any government or private granting agency, nor to any large investor. What we aim to win is beyond what mere money can buy.

We sell a healthy level of subscriptions (but have been unable, due to lack of time and resources, to pursue overdue renewals!), and we have so far mostly stayed out of debt with the advertising we've sold. We can do a lot better, but we need professional help here as well: selling ads is hard and time consuming, and this style of paper requires a rare set of skills to sell.

In the meantime, while we construct a sustainable independent business around the already developed editorial product of the newspaper, a financial gap has opened up. We want to print and distribute 10,000 copies per issue in order to provide advertisers with substantial benefit, but the advertising revenue we now earn allows us only 4,000 copies. We need gifts of money to make the leap and raise ourselves to a higher level of sustainability.

Some time ago, I made a similar appeal for anonymous donations, and I was overwhelmed by the outpouring of support. There seems to be a lot of people who also feel it is important to see a broader range of opinions on a wider array of issues entering the public forums.

That success of that appeal allowed us then to retire a substantial portion of the debt the paper took on in its initial year of operations. We now have debts again, plus future plans that require injections of capital before we can safely consider pursuing them.

And so, we are begging, cap in hand, one more time: Won't you please consider what we are doing and how we are doing it, and think about whether you can spot us a bit of cash to help us keep doing it? We're willing to dance if you're willing to take the moment it requires to dash off a cheque, or stuff some cash in an envelope, or call us with a credit card number and give us the encouragement you know we need.

No information from any donor will be recorded or used in any way. We won't even use it ourselves to get back to you next year. This is just a one-off straight up deal you don't even get a tax receipt for. It's just an appeal to give us some money if you think we deserve it, because we certainly need it. You could even leave it in a duffle bag in a garbage can pulled to the middle of a park in the night. Just let us know when to walk our dog next time!

Money can be sent to PO Box 56072, 1 st Ave East, Vancouver BC, V5L 5E2. Credit card numbers can be phoned in to 604-253-6413. Every little amount is, of course, greatly appreciated, and will be put to the best of uses, of that you can be sure. Thank you.

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