Celebrate Narco News' 7th Anniversary in NYC 4/18

Seven years ago, on the date commemorating Paul Revere's ride, I opened this website to distribute some news stories about the drug war in Mexico that various commercial periodicals declined to publish. If you read them then, you know the story: how Narco News grew from the work of one journalist to that of two, then three, and now hundreds, with millions of readers worldwide.

There's more work to be done breaking the information blockade from Latin America - we now do it in seven languages - but a seven-year milestone ought to be celebrated, too. And since I'm suddenly in the United States (on a university lecture tour) and will be in New York City in the middle of April, we've decided to hold the party in the Big Apple on the Eighteenth of April of '07.

And since Narco News and The Fund for Authentic Journalism (the reader-led nonprofit organization that finances our shoestring budget) want to continue doing the work of authentic journalism, our birthday party will also be a fundraising event. Set your calendars:

Date: Wednesday, April 18

Time: 8 p.m.

Location: Lower East Side, Manhattan

Some friends of the project have invited us to celebrate at a very special Lower East Side location. There will be tasty hour devours, drinks and a chance to talk up close with and get to know better some of our journalists (see the sponsor list, below). The "Supermodels for Oaxaca" models will also be there, fresh from their audition earlier that day and their victory convincing Miss Universe to cancel the Oaxaca parts of its 2007 pageant. The models will announce future actions targeting the Mexican consulates in New York and elsewhere. There will be live music (Cha-Connor, director of the Supermodels group, and Kelley Gaunt, two that have sung with us in the group Zapa- Sutra in Mexico, will join my Dobro and me for some numbers, and you never know who else might chime in). And, like with any event we've ever done, there will be special guests and other surprises.

However, we must advise: Space will be limited! That's why, before determining the ticket price for the event, we're inviting Narco News readers and co-publishers to get in on the ground floor of this party by sponsoring the anniversary gala with donations of $100 or more. Your donation as a sponsor will guarantee you a place at the party. (And even if you can't come to New York, if you sign up as a sponsor by April 10 you'll be listed on the printed invitation and on Narco News with the other appreciated backers of this event.)

Join the following Narco News journalists, readers and supporters in sponsoring this fun and worthwhile event:

R.J. Maccani*
Ora Wise
Kristin Bricker*
Simon Fitzgerald*
Johanna Lawrenson
The Abbie Hoffman Activist Foundation
Cha-Cha Connor
Supermodels for Oaxaca
Gregory Berger*
Michelle Stoddard
Sean Geary*
Barrett Hawes*
Joshua Bregman*
Kelley Gaunt
Chris Fee
Al Giordano*

* Journalists noted with an asterisk were part of the Narco News Road Team - The Other Journalism with the Other Campaign, and at the April 18 party will share their experiences on the road throughout Mexico with Zapatista Subcomandante Marcos during 2006.

You can join this proud roll call of talented journalists and esteemed citizens by becoming a sponsor of our April 18 anniversary party in New York City with your donation of $100 or more to The Fund for Authentic Journalism. You can do that right now online at:

http://www.authenticjournalism.org

Or by making a check out to "The Fund for Authentic Journalism" and mailing it to:

The Fund for Authentic Journalism PO Box 241 Natick MA 01670

Once we can determine for how many spaces we need to reserve for the event sponsors, we'll set a lower ticket price for any spaces are still available. The best guarantee, however, of your attendance would be to either sponsor the event or convince a friend to sponsor it on your behalf!

With the funds raised at this event, Narco News will be able to work harder and more productively to bring you the news that commercial media withholds from you even as it makes you pay (whether by charging you a fee or kidnapping your attention on behalf of advertisers).

If you have any questions or suggestions for this event, write to me at narconews@gmail.com

Lower Manhattan Island was the place where, in 2001, the New York Supreme Court delivered to Narco News the landmark legal victory that established, for the first time, that our journalists (and all Internet journalists, by precedent) enjoy full First Amendment protections under the US Constitution. Come be part of the continuing history and get to know your journalists better by sponsoring and participating in our Seventh Anniversary party in New York on Wednesday night, April 18, where the Authentic Journalism renaissance rides again!

From somewhere in a country called América,

Al Giordano
Publisher
The Narco News Bulletin
http://www.narconews.com/

© Scoop Media