



When The Fifth Column started, we set out to create an independent outlet for the advanced reader that was factually accurate while allowing for the widest variety of viewpoints. It's what people said they wanted, and it's the network we built. We created the infrastructure to broadcast information via video, audio, and text in dozens of languages. We built a network that brings you content from all over the globe. We've had millions of users. We did this in 18 months. In the next 18 months, we want to take it further. Our goal is to compete with the major corporate-owned or state-controlled outlets all over the world.



It's time to take The Fifth Column to the next level. Our core readership is made up of about 35,000 people. We're asking those readers to contribute to The Fifth Column. We have multiple levels of support you can pledge. The first level is just one dollar per month. Each level has some special perks that go along with it. The biggest perk is knowing that your contribution is being used to help break the global stranglehold on information. The world of information is changing. We are the transition team.



The idea behind establishing this account was simple: we are fighting an information war. Wars cost money. Many journalists end up working for free after they pay for their travel expenses. Some of our journalists refuse to even take a paycheck because they believe in what we are doing as much as you do. They are currently working other jobs. Every contribution helps free up their time so they can create more content, conduct more investigations, and transmit more information to even more people.



There's a complete outline of what the money will be used for below.



If you like TFC now, while it's operating on a shoestring budget, imagine what can be accomplished with a little bit of stable funding.



Where exactly will this money go?



Normally, when TFC raises funds for large projects or other groups, the use of every single dollar is explained. This is a unique format for raising funds. It makes it hard to budget until we know exactly how much is coming in. With appropriate support, we hope to:



Increase payments to journalists to allow them to increase their coverage.



Expand the number of foreign language articles available to dissidents the world over who are desperately in need of information. Currently, these articles are added when we have spare time. We almost never have spare time.



Bring on more editors to curate content from the 100s of sources we have available. Each day TFC publishes 6 to 12 articles from our own journalists and teams scattered around the world. That's just a fraction of the information we could process.



Bring on a person to coordinate the social media accounts to make sure the information is getting where it needs to go. Our current method of making sure critical information hits where it should is to direct message those who we know should be informed. With the proper use of social media, we can better inform those who need the information.



Finally, take The Voice of the Infiltration to a live format. One of TFC's projects is a 24-hour internet radio station, it allows us to bypass certain types of censorship filters. We want to expand those operations.



Anticipated questions:

Why not just make TFC subscription service? Our goal is distribute information as widely as possible through as many mediums as possible. It would be against our ethos to require payment. We are hoping that those who are as committed to the free flow of information as we are will step up and provide the funding we need to take TFC even further.



What happens if nobody pledges? It's not likely that will happen. We have faith in you. However, even without this support we will continue our mission. Your support will expedite our growth and help us reach the tipping point.



Don't the ads pay for the writers? Well, yes and no. The ads generally pay about $1 per 1000 views. If you read every single article TFC has published in the last 18 months, your views would have generated about $3.50.



You always have new projects coming online, what's next? The Fifth Column is currently organizing a section for readers aged 16-24. You'll begin seeing announcements about it soon.



If this goes well, will you remove the ads? It's very possible, but it would have to exceed expectations.









