Not for Profit News

I haven’t quite wrapped my brain around the full significance of an email I received this morning. Bottom line? My most important source of news on the “global war on terror” (more recently dubbed the Long War), is now the product of a newly-minted, non-profit organization: Public Media Inc (PMI).

Someone who isn’t aiming for corporate growth or TV ratings is providing daily, in-depth reporting on major events in the war in Iraq, the war in Afghanistan, and the turmoil bubbling and erupting in Pakistan. When there isn’t a major event, there’s still a weekly report on Iraq and news round-ups on the war-on-terror (or the Long War) in places like Lebanon, The Philippines, Thailand, Yemen, Iran, Morocco, the United Kingdom, and, yes, the US.

Who’s behind this comprehensive reporting? Bill Roggio.

And now he’s doubling down and making a commitment to continue to provide this kind of invaluable reporting. He’s obviously decided that he can’t do it on his own, the embedding and the reporting (hard to do both well, continuously!), or with his current small crew. So he’s formed a non-profit

A non-profit, so he can give us a gift. Day in, day out.

I’ve read numerous entries on Hugh Hewitt’s blog over the last year on the eroding profitability of major news outlets like the New York Times, The LA Times, and other major newspapers.

I’ve never subscribed to any of these major newspapers. The last newspaper subscription I had was to The Christian Science Monitor.

I’ve donated to my favorite Long War blogs over the last year: The Mudville Gazette (by Greyhawk & Mrs. G), Michael Yon: Online Magazine, and The Fourth Rail (by Bill Roggio), and I will continue to do so.

Now, though, I will take additional pleasure in my next donation to PMI as it will be supporting not only the web reports that I read daily, but sponsoring multiple embedded journalists reporting from the front lines in places like Iraq and The Philippines. And it will add an entry to my itemized deductions for 2007. Gotta love that.

To top it all off, I’m trying to figure out just how envious I am of a current Princeton ROTC student who apparently will be embedding with General David Petraeus as one of PMI’s first embeds. Sure beats my summer jobs in college…

If you needed a nudge to consider donating to PMI, or Michael Yon, or Greyhawk, maybe this will do the trick. Before the Fourth of July, I had been contemplating a blog post encouraging you to provide financial support for these independent bloggers. Supporting independents on Independence Day, you know? Anyway, that post didn’t happen and now I’ve had to do a re-write, but…

As I rode the bus to work this morning, I tried to imagine what it would have been like if we’d fought the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan without blogs.

Makes you wonder what we’d know, doesn’t it?

When I got home from work today, there was a letter in my mailbox from one of the soldiers’ I’ve adopted through Soldiers’ Angels. He’s serving near Ramadi in Iraq, and, thanks to Bill and the rest, I have a small clue what it’s like for him and the others as they fight for our way of life on the other side of the world. Oh, and a clue as to the progress they’re making. Had you heard about that? Bill, Michael Yon, or Greyhawk’s Mrs. G can fill you in.

Made a donation yet? Support all three if you’re able.