Final Days

Thank you to everyone for your support.

As Canada's only crowdfunded journalist, I'm honoured by all the support I've received as I work to build a new business model for journalism that's puts high-quality transparent news gathering and analysis first.

Your support enables me to focus on producing news with link-baiting or other methods of drawing readers to feed an click-based business model. I don't have to troll you with sensationalist stories at City Hall - I can focus on working each day to better inform you and advocating for more transparency in local government.

If you haven't given yet, your $30 contribution will go a long way to supporting my work and making it even better.

Thank you,

Joey

 

Live Local Journalism, Where and When News Happens ... made even better

Thank you for visiting my crowdfunding campaign page and supporting my work as an independent journalist in Hamilton.

Since the last successful crowdfunding campaign, we've seen what is possible when our community comes together to support public service journalism.

 

We've seen the positive impact upon our civic affairs of having all public meetings at City Hall streamed, I've been able to livestream from Toronto when Metrolinx announced Hamilton was a priority for transit investment (the only Hamilton media to attend), brought you the Mayor's State of the City address from Winona, the Mayor's address to the Chamber of Commence from the waterfront, was on scene at the large fire in Dundas that happened in the middle of the night (again, the only local media to bring you a live update from Fire Officials during the emergency), attended the police budget town hall in Stoney Creek, stream School Board meetings, and brought you the first ever livestream of a regular Police Services Board meeting.

 

We've also seen what others can do with the equipment when it's been lent to the McMaster Silhouette who livestreamed a debate for the McMaster Students Union election.

 

In total, we've been able to livestream over 1000 hours of public meetings in Hamilton the past few months.

 

It's not just livestreaming, my journalism also includes publishing agendas the City won't - such as the Accountabilty and Transparency committee, publishing open data, providing updates about what's happening in Hamilton right now, assisting fellow citizens with freedom of information requests, answering your questions, and much more.

 

I hope you can contribute to this assist in keeping this momentum moving forward.

 

 

 

 

Born and raised in Hamilton, I've lived in nearly every community in our beautiful city. I loved each one (admittedly, Dewitt Rd was a challenging bicycle ride) and now live Downtown in the Beasley community.

 

My early story is well summarized by Susan Clairmont in this 2000 article.

 

Today, I'm Canada's first crowdfunded journalist - I answer to my community.

 

I've been a professional journalist for six years starting my career at Maclean's. I've worked for The Globe and Mail and numerous other newspapers. For the past three years, I've been independently covering Hamilton, often being the only reporter covering local stories.

 

Today, I cover our city in partnership with you.

 

In November, thanks to you, I became Canada's first crowdfunded journalist and cover our city 24/7. No matter when news happens, I'm there.

 

You can read more about my journalism achievements and proven experience below.

Why this crowd funding project?

I need to raise funds to continue producing the high quality 24/7 journalism you've come to expect from me.

 

$9,000 is what is required to fund my journalism at the present time.

 

Every City Council meeting, every City Council committee, every City Council sub-committee, School Board meetings, Public meetings, Local Events, Art Crawls, Town Halls, and more - that's the journalism your contribution supports.

 

The minimum amount includes equipment to improve productivity and improve the stream. I also will experiment with audio-only streaming to save you, the viewer, on bandwidth. My current computer is four years old and not able to handle video editing nor will it be capable of audio streaming.

 

I will also be purchasing a USB 3.0 video streamer to give me the option of choosing different livestreaming providers with the desire of having picture-in-picture as an option in the future.

 

The remainder is to cover operating expenses of the journalism I produce. No other outlet provides more coverage of City Hall.

 

It's the best value in journalism anywhere.

 

If I can raise more than $9,000, I can make more investiments in equipment to further improve the journalism I provide.

 

Among the improvements I will achieve above the minimum for status quo - purchase lightning and sound equipment for regular interviews. I seek to interview Councillors, Staff, and Citizens about issues in front of Council so we can be better informed as citizens.

 

No matter what you're doing, you'll be able to stay connected and informed.

Other Ways You Can Help

Financial contributions help, but you can help even more by supporting non-profit journalism in Hamilton by: 

1. Sign up for the Hamilton News Roundup Newsletter
   • gives you a concise round-up of Hamilton news, links, events, and a preview of what's going to make news that day.
   • includes a banner advertising space that assists coverage.
   • is delivered to your inbox every morning.
2. Tell your friends about this project and how they can get the latest news
3. Continue to be awesome

Thank You!