Those of you who have been with us for many years now know that what we do is unique. However, let me explain further, especially for those who are new to LifeSiteNews.
Yes, LifeSiteNews has experienced explosive growth in popularity and readership in the last few years. But as our long-time readers well know, that growth comes in spite of, not because of, our reporting on the hard issues that in many cases would be easier simply to ignore.
We give our readers the essential “big picture” about the many related life, family and cultural issues. Most people are not aware that these seemingly disparate issues are all part of the international culture war against Judeo-Christian civilization.
Doing so often involves difficult investigative journalism. Unfortunately, the challenging truths that such journalism uncovers aren’t always pretty, and we definitely are not popular in some powerful circles because of it.
In fact, it likely costs us a lot in donations from those who prefer less controversy or more politically correct ventures. We rock the boat.
But as many of you, and many top leaders in the pro-life and pro-family movements, repeatedly tell us, the work of LifeSiteNews is a badly needed work of tough love. That’s why we do it.
It is difficult work, requiring a team of full-time, experienced journalists of exceptional character who have a passion for the truth and who are willing to dig and ask lots of questions.
We work unusually closely as a team; constantly exchanging information and thoughts back and forth; calling and emailing trusted contacts around the world; piecing together past information related to particular stories; putting especially important stories through multiple editors to ensure accuracy and thoroughness.
There are few news agencies willing to tackle the stories we take on, willing to stand up to call out revered institutions or personalities when things go amiss. Not many news agencies are able and willing to shed light on the darkness, especially when the darkness holds many of the purse strings required to survive financially.
We take that risk time and again because, frankly, someone has to do it.
At LifeSiteNews we’re completely independent and therefore able to do what needs to be done, thanks to you. We don’t have large donors who give with strings attached, limiting what or how we report.
We have you.
Oft-times we are unjustly maligned and marginalized, even the subject of lawsuits and threats. In fact, right now we are fighting a $500,000 lawsuit from a self-professed ‘pro-choice’ Catholic priest, who is unhappy that we dared to report on his controversial statements and actions.
However, that all comes with the territory of operating a genuine investigative journalism outfit, especially one that defends pro-life and pro-family values in our current culture.
Our efforts in this regard have been very effective in generating greatly needed change.
Except from you, we don’t often get congratulations for a job well done. The changes usually come about after much struggle and opposition. Such changes result in large part from your follow-up efforts.
Your work of contacting and pressuring people and organizations to come clean, to straighten out, to reform, using evidence from our investigative reporting, is what makes things happen.
For 15 years now we’ve been doing this work so that today many individuals, agencies, publications, groups and services are acting in line with the culture of life, which were not before.
In some cases there have been conversions, in some cases people had to be fired or speakers cancelled and in some cases there is ongoing reform.
But there is no way to continue this vital mission without your financial support.
We especially need that support now in a big way, since we are so very far from our goal and nearing the end of our current Spring Campaign.
The impact of LifeSiteNews has exploded. The work carried on behind the scenes has also expanded tremendously. On many fronts there has been victory, and victory is near on many more. There remain many areas where hard work is still needed.
Will you help us? When the going gets tough, the tough get going! It is tough out there and we really need your help to keep us going.
We need to receive at least $100,000 by the end of this campaign just to maintain our operations until the next fundraiser. It is a very conservative goal, but we still have over $65,000 to go!
To some people that goal may seem to be a lot, but in fact we have been told time and again by experts that what we have accomplished on our shoestring budget is nothing short of amazing.
John-Henry Westen
Editor and Co-Founder
LifeSiteNews.com