Stephen Leahy, International Environmental Journalist

News media are in serious decline.

Here’s the reality we all face: After 18 years being published in many major  media outlets I  now count myself lucky to get $150 to $250 for an in-depth article on climate or water or food or energy or biodiversity that took the better part a week to research and write. No publication or media outlet covers my expenses or travel costs on a regular basis any more.

Given this reality there is little choice but to try a new form of public journalism called Community Supported Journalism. This is where people support independent journalists who craft honest and thoughtful articles that inform people about the major public issues of our time. Your support enables me to do the reporting that is needed to help us find the solutions and make informed choices.

Journalism and media are a society’s mirror, ideally providing true and essential information. That is no longer the case.

Many people, including leading scientists, have told me: ‘we need people like you to write about these issues‘. I’d like to do far more but it is impossible to continue without your help.

How Community Supported Journalism works

It works on a fair exchange. In exchange for investigation, research, writing about what’s important for all of us to know so we can make informed decisions, people like you provide some support.

In an earlier age story-tellers like me would have come to your village, taught your children and told you useful stories about what I’d learned from wise elders in other villages in exchange for a place to sleep and something to eat.

The only difference today is those stories are delivered electronically not in person. When you read my stories online you are hearing me and my 16 years of experience in finding and telling stories that matter.

Reciprocity, co-operation and community are some of the key values we need live by to face the current challenges. Please be part of Community Supported Environmental Journalism

 Just $5 a week - about the price of a big-city cappuccino or a cheap pint of beer – means this kind of important information will be made available to millions of people around the world.

Monthly support means I can spend more time writing & less time fund raising (Contributions limited to 1 year/12 months.)

Credit cards or PayPal accounts (I use the PayPal Donate service because it was the easiest for me to set up and more than 100,000 non-profits safely use it.) You can cancel at any time.

1. Monthly Support:

$10 a month      $15 a month

$20 a month     $30 a month

$50 a month    $100 a month

2. One time donations can be made here:

(Click the button and enter the amount.)  

3. Checks/Cheques by Mail: 

[Contact me directly for mailing address and other options.]

NOTE: All articles are sent to supporters, available on this website and accessible to millions of people around the world on other news websites such as IPS, Reuters AlertNet, TerraViva, Tierramerica, Common Dreams, InfoSud, Straightgoods.com and many more news networks that have little money for original journalism but many readers.

See Swiss journalist’s take on my approach:

Adopt a Muckraker? The Future of Journalism: “If we’re not willing to pick up the tab… who will?”

Letters of Support

“We need people like you. In tough economic times, where information flow is increasingly channelled and controlled, you perform a simply critical role. Hang in there. You are an admirable role model for the future.”

– E. Ann Clark, Associate Professor, University of Guelph.

“Stephen Leahy has done a superb job exposing the enormous sums the US government is spending on corporate welfare for big oil.”

Ross Gelbspan, Pulitzer-prize winning editor and author of The Heat is On

“Stephen has mastered the art of accurately and engagingly conveying complex scientific ideas to a lay audience; the feedback we get on his work tends to be glowing, both from readers and researchers — which is a rare thing.”

– Katherine Stapp, IPS Regional Editor, North America and the Caribbean

My continued appreciation to those who have contributed in the past.