The New Brunswick Media Co-op (nbmediacoop.org) recently celebrated a year of democratic media making. The NBMC is not officially affiliated with the Media Co-op network whose site you're reading now, but the folks in NB share our vision for media owned and operated by its readers, journalists and editors. With a distribution of 3,500 per month, the NBMC is doing a sweet job getting news from their grassroots out with their broadsheet, The Brief. And they have the weather on their site!

Below you can read an update from the NBMC, sent by Tracy Glynn, NBMC coordinator, and contributor rep on the our own Media Co-op's board.

****

It's been a busy and fruitful year for the NB Media Co-op. The NB Media Co-op made its debut on New Brunswick's media scene on August 3, 2009 and on September 11, 2010, our members elected our first board of directors and editorial board. In just over a year of existence, the NB Media Co-op is not only producing citizen journalism, it is part of the movement to democratize the media landscape in the province, Canada and world.

The NB Media Co-op has been a tool for accountability and democracy, reporting on the decisions being made by our elected representatives and being the first to cover important news stories. We are doing what Amy Goodman from Democracy Now! calls "trickle up journalism" -- when stories covered by the grassroots percolate up into the mainstream media. Thoughtful coverage of the Tobique Nation's blockade against NB Power, critical analysis of the Irving media coverage of the NB Power sale and student issues are examples of the NB Media Co-op's most popular stories in 2009 and 2010.

Our website--nbmediacoop.org--has covered important news stories from the perspectives of those ignored or misrepresented in our corporate media. We have published over 300 news stories from New Brunswick, across Canada and around the world and over 200 opinion pieces since our launch. The NB Media Co-op has a Facebook and Twitter page to keep readers up to date on the latest news stories added to the website.

We are about to publish our 15th edition of our increasingly popular broadsheet, The Brief. We distribute approximately 3,500 copies per month. We grow our distribution every month with more volunteers distributing The Brief in their corner of the province. These papers are reaching the broad public and those outside our circles. More people are showing up at events saying they heard about the event in The Brief.

We have discovered that a small group of people can change the media environment for the better. The NB Media Co-op hopes to grow in the coming years and include more New Brunswickers--organizing, writing, editing and distributing news for and by New Brunswickers.

In 2009, we received a number of financial contributions from individuals, labour unions and social justice groups. Thank you to all who contributed. We need your support to keep going and to grow. We don't spend a lot of money but we need financial support to cover our main costs of printing and mailing The Brief. One day, we hope to be able to pay a coordinator to work on growing the co-op. We would also like to pay contributors to cover stories important to New Brunswickers.

We ask that you become a member of our co-op. Please consider renewing your membership fees or becoming a member for the first time.

Options include:

1. Easy monthly pre-authorized contributions from your bank account for as little as $3.00 per month or more. Please contact us to get the monthly deposit form.

2. An annual contribution of any amount. We recommend $30/year or $10/year (low-income, senior/student). Cheques can be made out to "NB Media Co-op."

3. Giving the gift of membership in the NB Media Co-op to your socially-conscious friends and relatives. Our locally-made, hand-crafted gift card makes an excellent stocking stuffer!

Financial contributions and inquiries can be sent to:

NB Media Co-op
180 St. John St.,
Fredericton, NB
E3B 4A9
Tel: (506) 455-7054
Email: info@nbmediacoop.org

Thank you for your support!