We understood that our ask was not made easy by economic trends — months of inflation, rumours of a coming recession, the existing challenges that many face paying their bills. So, early in December, when we began the Tyee’s annual year-end campaign for new Builders to help support our journalism with monthly or one-time contributions, we set a goal of $75,000 with cautious expectations and much humility.
And then you filled our hearts with gratitude and affirmation.
First you blew past the goal we set with a week still to go in the campaign. Great! Now we were set to produce, as promised, three times the amount of solutions-focused articles in 2023 than the year before.
We dared to dream some more. Given rising interest in our Alberta coverage, could we streak for $100,000 in the remaining week in order to pay for more investigations, analysis and solutions-focused reporting on B.C.’s next door neighbour?
Well, yes indeed.
When we woke up yesterday to see where we’d arrived after the official end of our campaign, our fundraising ticker showed $107,630 from 1,153 Tyee Builder members. That’s incredible! Particularly considering The Tyee’s journalism in the public interest is paywall-free.
Clearly there’s a great spirit of generosity and belief in the power of independent journalism alive in our community.
We are thrilled to welcome so many new folks to the ranks of our Tyee Builders.
We are committed to making you proud of the work you’ve made possible.
Our journalists will now map their plans for new investigations and increased solutions journalism. As they do so, they’ll draw on the many good ideas you shared as you made your contributions. As new Builders signed up, we asked, “What topic or issue area do you think is most in need of some solutions journalism?”
Here are the results of that informal survey.
Many of you included notes in the space provided to offer more specifics. They included urgings to delve into solutions in job training, reforming the insurance industry, reviving our public health system, better understanding the keys to right-wing radicalization and aiding community control of forests.
At The Tyee, our philosophy is that everything we do, we do for and with our readers. We strive to remain in close contact and look for opportunities to work collaboratively with you. We think this is the future of journalism. Fading is the model where news is published to primarily please advertisers. We understand that we are only as strong as our relationship to you, our readers. Your solutions journalism suggestions are a great example of the benefit of this approach.
Your remarkable support in the past weeks means we are well-placed to make 2023, which happens to mark two decades in the life of The Tyee, our best year ever.
Oh, and if you are coming late to this and would like to become a Tyee Builder, at any amount you wish, by all means, welcome aboard! Here’s where to go to find out more.
Happy holidays, readers. Our comment threads will be closed from Friday, Dec. 23 until Tuesday, Jan. 3 to give our moderators a well-deserved break. See you in 2023!
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