After nearly two months of generating some of the most compelling journalism to come out of Iraq this year, NewStandard correspondent Dahr Jamail has decided to stay on through the June 30 “handover” of partial sovereignty, adding more than a month to his work in Iraq and his witness to a crucial moment in modern Iraqi history.
We are of course pleased and honored to continue to be the primary outlet for Dahr’s writing, as well as his main source of financial, editorial and other support.
So that Dahr may continue his invaluable work in Iraq, we once again call on his readers for generous financial backing.
With the help of hundreds of donors — people just like you who appreciate truly independent, noncommercial coverage of the crisis in Iraq, and donated what they could afford — The NewStandard has so far been able to assist Dahr Jamail in the following ways:
1. Financial support – The NewStandard has raised over $6000 to pay Dahr’s expenses for two months of living and working in a particularly dangerous war zone. We also pay Dahr as much as we can afford for each hard news article he writes for The NewStandard.
2. Editorial support – A great deal of the research that goes into Dahr’s reports is actually carried out stateside by his editors.
3. Publishing services – The NewStandard hosts a weblog for Dahr and publishes most of his original news items, then mails them out to numerous other publications.
4. Re-printing services – We readily grant permission for Dahr’s work to be republished freely by other nonprofit outlets, exponentially increasing his exposure.
So far, because of the help of generous donors, in less than 2 months Dahr has:
1. written 27 compelling “weblog entries,” which are really field reports based on hours of research — many websites are re-posting these as full-fledged articles;
2. written 16 full-length hard news articles, professionally edited by NewStandard staff, including coverage from inside the Fallujah siege when almost no Western journalists would venture into the city, plus many other stories on subjects Western reporters won’t touch;
3. given dozens of interviews with radio stations and newspapers all over the world;
4. written commentaries for ZNet and numerous short articles for mass outlets such as Inter Press Service and Islam OnLine;
5. taken hundreds of high-impact photographs, many of which will appear in the slide show Dahr uses for visual presentations on tour in North America.
None of that could have happened without the support of readers who appreciate Dahr’s skills, initiative, methods and authentic perspective.
PLEASE help us support Dahr for another 5 weeks of important efforts as our eyes and ears on the ground in Iraq. We hope to raise at least another $3500 to enable Dahr and The NewStandard to continue bringing you the amount and quality of coverage you’ve come to expect. That amount includes $750 for a new plane ticket since his existing return trip ticket can’t be exchanged.
The kind of support Dahr deserves for the dangerous and stressful work of bringing us a vital, underreported side of the Iraq story requires a substantial amount of money, though Dahr has found ways to manage on a mere fraction of the budgets other war correspondents require.
Every donation makes a difference. $10 pays for Dahr’s meals for a day, or his transportation costs to gather a story; while $500 pays for the gathering, writing, editing and promotion of a whole news story. Even if you cannot afford to donate much yourself, passing this notice on and convincing friends and relatives to donate would be of great assistance.
See Dahr’s contributor bio page for a complete list of articles he has written for The NewStandard.
If you are able to help keep Dahr safe and active in Baghdad for the next 5 weeks, please go to our highly secure web page and donate whatever you can afford. The NewStandard and Dahr Jamail greatly appreciate any help you can provide.
Checks or money orders can be made out to PeoplesNetWorks and sent to:
PeoplesNetWorks
203 Bassett Street
Syracuse, NY 13210
Please also forward this email widely to friends, family, websites and listservs.
For more information, feel free to write or call the NewStandard‘s Middle East Desk:
email: brian[[at]]peoplesnetworks[[dot]]net (spam guard: change [[at]] to @ and [[dot]] to . )
phone: 315-885-9649
