Prove Me Wrong

Dear Next City Reader,

You know the kind of journalism that sells the easiest. The click-bait kind, the gossip kind that's so much about how people in power abuse their power. It's increasingly gloomy and apparently frustrating and yet people still click and subscribe and support that kind of journalism, seemingly without end. Wittingly or unwittingly, journalism schools churn out graduates who largely idolize that kind of journalism for the industry prestige and book deals it can bring them.

We don't do that kind of work at Next City. We don't look down on it necessarily. Reporting on abuses of power is important to a functioning democracy, but the kind of journalism and journalists that Next City produces reflect the belief that journalism has to expand its focus beyond those in traditionally powerful positions. We share the belief that journalism must also report on those who are tapping into power that is less conspicuous and using it to change how things work around them in cities.

Yes, I Want to Donate!

This kind of journalism doesn't sell, conventionally. But you can help buck convention and prove me wrong. You can vote with your dollars to demonstrate this kind of journalism is worth something to everyone else. You can show with your dollars there needs to be more opportunities for journalists of color to take up this kind of journalism instead of continuing to follow in the conventional footsteps of mainstream, power-obsessed, click-bait journalism.

We can't afford to make journalism more diverse while also leaving in place the practices and habits that reinforce power structures behind rampant inequality and climate change. As we make journalism more representative of the cities we love, we also have to change how journalism works. You can do a little of both at the same time by contributing to Next City today.

Thanks to readers like you, Next City has provided a summer urban affairs internship program for journalists of color since 2016. This internship is a full-time, paid opportunity. This year would mark our seventh urban affairs internship. But we need your support. We only need to raise $10,000 by the end of May to safeguard this program's success. Your donation today will go directly toward paying an intern's stipend and managing the program. We accept credit cards, Apple Pay and Google Pay. If you donate $20 or more, you will receive our special issue magazine, "21 Best Solutions of 2021."

Will you support this vital internship?

Sincerely,
Oscar Perry Abello
Senior Economics Correspondent
Next City