Be the Media & Join Your Local Media Co-op

The NB Media Co-op is 11 years old this year and we are more active than ever. A dedicated team of volunteers is working across the province to deliver news and commentary and we welcome you to join us by becoming a member, writing for us, editing for us, helping us distribute The Brief, and/or promoting us in your community. Get in touch info@nbmediacoop.org.

March is Membership Month at the NB Media Co-op

From March 1 to March 30, we are holding a membership/funding drive. We are inviting you to sustain us and help us grow. Our goal is to increase our membership base and to raise $2,000.

Sign up or renew your membership here. Annual membership is $30/year. If you cannot pay right now but want to be a member, email us, we welcome you.

If you make a contribution to us in the month of March, you will be entered in a draw to win a subscription to the ‘fiercely independent’ Briarpatch. Our monthly sustainers will also be entered in the draw.

5 things we will do with your contribution

The Brief is distributed around the province, including here at the Café Lotus Bleu in Edmundston.

1. Produce our flagship online publication, the NB Media Co-op, that produces critical news and analysis.

2. Publish our monthly broadsheet print publication, The Brief, which is distributed for free across the province.

3. Produce a weekly round-up of news and analysis on our site for our readers. Sign up for the e-updates here.

4. Work to tell the stories of people who are often neglected by corporate media.

5. Provide an online listing of community events that promote social justice and equality.

5 ways to support the NB Media Co-op

1. Not a member? Membership lapsed? Join or renew your membership today.

2. Already a dues-paying member? Make another donation or buy a membership for a friend.

3. Forward this email to five friends and ask them to join the NB Media Co-op.

4. Share our ask on your Facebook and Twitter.

5. Put the ‘fun’ in fundraiser and organize a local fundraiser for us.

5 reasons to support the NB Media Co-op

1. We are for social justice. In New Brunswick, daily newspapers are almost entirely owned by Brunswick News, one of the Irving family companies that also holds interests in many other sectors of the economy, including forestry and oil refining. As an independent non-profit co-operative, we cover stories from the perspectives of those ignored or misrepresented in corporate media, including workers, Indigenous land and water defenders, students, and many other equity-seeking groups. Coverage of marginalized voices and un(der)reported stories is key to a healthy democracy.

2. We need $$$$. We rely on membership dues, and donations from individuals and organizations such as labour unions to sustain our work. With more support, we will be able to grow and enhance our news coverage and increase the distribution reach of our print broadsheet, The Brief, and pay our news writers for their stories.

3. We analyse the media and hold it accountable. Our events on the media are popular with some attracting hundreds of people. On March 13, we will host Gordon Edwards on why small modular nuclear reactors are not green. On May 23 in Fredericton, we will co-host the launch of Erin Steuter’s book on fake news, Won’t Get Fooled Again. Go to our online calendar to get the details of these events and more timely and informative events.

Our recent events have included Chantal Richard on the media’s role in erasing Acadian culture and language, Bruce Campbell on the Lac Mégantic disaster and rail safety, Masuma Khan on the backlash she experienced for resisting colonization as a student, Yves Engler on Canada’s imperialist misadventures, Jesse Brown/CanadaLand on forestry and the Irvings, Jennifer Brant on missing and murdered Indigenous women, Kevin Donovan on the Jian Ghomeshi affair, Alain Déneault on tax havens, Bruce Livesey on “The House of Irvings,” Justin Brake on being criminalized for reporting on Muskrat Falls, and Janice Harvey on how the Globe and Mail has covered the environment.

Alain Deneault giving the keynote address on tax havens at the annual NB Media Co-op meeting.

4. We bring people together. Through our publication, The Brief, our website, social media, workshops and collaboration with community groups, we seek to create a space for various social movements to connect, get the word out, strategize, and reflect. Our recent popular stories include analysis on the City of Fredericton’s move to lockout its workers and replace them with scabs, opposition to J.D. Irving’s quarry in Upham, and a commentary on being Black in Fredericton.

We are in the second year of a partnership with RAVEN (Rural Action and Voices for the Environment) that has introduced our readers to many rural champions and land defenders across the province and allowed us to produce various media, news stories, videos and photo-stories.

5. We want to spread the independent media love. Join us in March and you could win a prize subscription to Briar Patch that also gives love to more independent media!

Donate or sign up to become a member here.

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