> The Fund for Authentic Journalism Receives Tax Exempt Status from the IRS

> Dear Colleague,

> I've been back in the Narco Newsroom for a couple of weeks now, which,
> thanks to Dan Feder and the rest of the team, continued breaking the
> information blockade from Latin America during my leave of absence.

> And  lo' and behold  in the in-box, The Fund for Authentic
> Journalism, which supports our work, passes on a letter it received
> from the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) last December with the
> great news that The Fund is now approved as a tax-exempt charity. It says:

> "We are pleased to inform you that upon review of your application for
> tax exempt status we have determined that you are exempt from Federal
> income tax under section 501 ( c )  (3) of the Internal Revenue Code.
> Contributions to you are deductible under section 170 of the Code. You
> are also qualified to receive tax deductible bequests, devises,
> transfers or gifts under section 2055, 2106 or 2522 of the Code."

> If you've donated to The Fund since January 1, 2006, you can deduct
> all those contributions from your taxes, too.

> This really is wonderful news, because it opens the door to receive
> grants to support our journalism projects, our journalists and to
> bring back the Narco News School of Authentic Journalism, which has
> trained and introduced so many excellent journalists across the
> hemisphere.

> Friday, April 18, will mark eight years since Narco News was born. The
> last nine months are testimony that the project of reporting the drug
> war and democracy from Latin America has grown way beyond one
> journalist's work, and continued to thrive even when this journalist
> had other obligations.

> Of course, we haven't asked for your support since last year: Your
> contributions in the 2007 fund drive kept gas in the tank for the
> first four months of 2008. But even our modest budget now needs
> replenishing to drive on into the coming weeks and months. And so if
> you're a longtime supporter, or a new one, we need to ask for your
> help again. Please consider sending a donation to celebrate our eighth
> birthday  which comes on Friday - today.

> You can do that right now, online, by clicking this link:

> http://www.authenticjournalism.org/

> Or you can send a check made out to "The Fund for Authentic
> Journalism" to this address:

> The Fund for Authentic Journalism
> PO Box 241
> Natick, MA 01760 USA

> Last week I was in Mexico City where I was fortunate to see an old
> friend, former US Rep. Cynthia McKinney, who introduced me to a
> colleague fromHaiti. As we were talking, I mentioned that one of the
> graduates of the Narco News J-School had gone there, learned to speak
> Hatian-French Creole, and is now the television news correspondent inHaitifor Telesur.

> "Reed?" he smiled. "Reed Lindsay? He's the only journalist reporting
> the truth about what is happening there!"

> Of course that made me very proud, and that's a pride that I hope you
> share. Because this project not only continues to get better and
> better in terms of Narco News' own reporting, but also has helped
> raise the standards of journalism across our Amirica through many news
> organizations where our graduates today do this important work.

> It's no exaggeration at all to observe that, in the eight years since
> April 18, 2000, people in the United States and throughout the world
> are much better informed about events throughout this hemisphere than
> ever before. Our existence has limited the ability of foreign
> correspondents and commercial media organizations to distort the news
> as badly as they were able to do before our arrival, and has trained
> and equipped new talent to work for them and for us.

> Of course, we have a long way to go before simulation and distortion
> and the manipulation of news organizations by government and industry
> - are no longer the norm for journalism here and elsewhere. North
> Americans and people throughout the world may be better informed today
> about events from Mexico to Bolivia to Venezuela to Colombia and back
> to the US Border, but the "Information Curtain" still exists, and
> there's still more bad and untruthful reporting out there than good.

> As the Bush administration in Washington plots a multi-million dollar
> scheme called "Plan Mexico"  to bolster the anti-democracy forces of
> repression there as it has done with "Plan Colombia" for the first
> part of this century  we, at Narco News, need to expand our reporting
> in both lands  and elsewhere  to bring the news that is still hidden
> out into the light.

> But our bank account is empty (once again) and so, now as before, we
> turn to you, kind reader, and ask you to keep us going.

> So, please, give as generously as you can, via this link:

> http://www.authenticjournalism.org/

> Or via snail mail to this address:

> The Fund for Authentic Journalism
> PO Box 241
> Natick, MA 01760 USA

> To those of you that have donated in the past, and that will donate
> today, this is your international online newspaper, too, and so the
> "happy birthday" also belongs to you.

> >From somewhere in a country called Amirica,

> Al Giordano
> Publisher
> The Narco News Bulletinhttp://narconews.com
> narcon...@gmail.com

> Narco News is supported by:

> The Fund for Authentic Journalism P.O. Box 241 Natick, MA 01760http://www.authenticjournalism.org

> The Fund receives online donations at this web page:

> http://www.authenticjournalism.org

> Apply for your co-publisher's account, here:

> http://www.narconews.com/copublisher/application.php

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