LETTER FROM THE EDITOR
Thanks to our friends
This issue marks the first anniversary of the Progressive Populist.
It has been an exciting year for which we owe many thanks. Thanks go first
to the contributing writers and artists whose work makes the Progressive
Populist possible each month. They include the charter crew: cartoonists
Kirk Anderson, Clay Bennett and the team of Carol*Simpson, and writers Todd
Basch, Jeff Cohen and Norman Solomon, Carol Countryman, Hal Crowther, Ronnie
Dugger, Jim Hightower, Molly Ivins, Jesse Jackson, A.V. Krebs, Charles Levendosky,
Eugene McCarthy, Laura McClure, Peter Montague, Ralph Nader, Richard Rothstein,
Walt C. Sheasby, James McC. Yeager, Dan Yurman and Senator Tom Harkin, our
premiere essayist, now thankfully re-elected.
Many were called but they signed on.
Thanks also to the staff: Associate Editor Carmen Alarcon, who helps line
up and edit stories; Illustrator Dolores Cullen, whose art has distinguished
each of the covers; Managing Editor Art Cullen, who puts the paper together
in Storm Lake, Iowa; Ric Casson, who prints the paper; and Grace Casson,
who manages the mailing list. We appreciate Martha Cavin and Gerald Jolin,
who generously advised us on developing our marketing strategies, John Cullen,
who has provided The Progressive Populist offices at the twice-weekly Storm
Lake, Iowa, Times, and the staff of The Times.
Thanks go most of all to the nearly 1,500 people who put up $18 each to
subscribe to a fledgling newspaper that believes people are more important
than corporations.
The Progressive Populist originally was envisioned as a newspaper
that would appeal to readers mainly in the Midwest. However, when we started
advertising in national publications, the appeal across the country was
evident. Every state is now represented on our subscriber list and the response
from readers generally has been enthusiastic.
The slow but steady growth of circulation over the past year has been better
than we thought, although our business manager grouses that this dispersal
of subscribers does not help us qualify for postal discounts.
When we started the Progressive Populist last fall Jim Hightower
commented, "Like the successful Populist Movement of the late 1800s,
modern-day Populists can't wait for the Establishment Media Combines to
cover our issues fairly and seriously, which is why the launching of the
Progressive Populist newspaper is so timely and exciting."
Since then Hightower has been dumped by ABC for criticizing its merger with
Disney and the new federal telecommunications act has opened the door for
further monopolization of the airwaves by corporate conglomerates such as
Disney, General Electric, Westinghouse, Time Warner and Fox.
We are convinced that there has never been more need for an independent
newspaper like the Progressive Populist. And, truth to tell, it's
not all that difficult to start such a publication. The trick is to keep
it going.
We need another 1,500 subscribers in the next few months to get on stable
financial ground. We are confident we can reach that level, and you can
help by renewing your subscription and buying a gift subscription for a
friend who would appreciate our progressive populist news and views.
You also can take advantage of a special discount: If you renew your subscription
at the regular rate of $18 per year, you can get a second year for yourself
for only $12. You also can buy a gift subscription for someone else at that
special, low rate. So for $30 you can get yourself two more years of the
Progressive Populist or you can get another year for yourself and
a year for a friend or family. And we'll let them know who is responsible
for the gift.
If you can't afford to send gift subscription to your friends, call toll-free
1-800-205-7067 and give us their addresses. We'll be glad to send them a
sample copy. Of course, it would help if you also would put in a good word
for us.
Also, ask your library to carry the Progressive Populist. If necessary,
buy the library a subscription.
On the mechanics of putting out a monthly newspaper, you may have noticed
that you have been getting the newspaper later in the month. Part of that
is due to a newsman's urge to bend deadlines for breaking news. We hope
to adjust our publication schedule over the next few months so that you
are back to receiving the paper by the first week of the month.
In the spirit of the season, I offer this Irish blessing:
May those who love us, love us well.
And those who don't love us, may God turn their hearts.
And if He doesn't turn their hearts, may He turn their ankles,
So we'll know them by their limping.
-- Jim Cullen, Editor
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