What is Muckraker, Inc.?

Muckraker, Inc. is a communications company founded by a group of citizen journalists. We’re just ordinary people fed up with the mainstream media’s "business as usual." We've dedicated ourselves to exposing corruption, giving a voice to the voiceless, being the source that whistle-blowers can truly trust, and elevating culture and the arts. Muckraker has founded several successful media outlets already, including Independent Gazette newspapers in Wilkes-Barre and Scranton, PA, and Trenton, NJ, and the radio show Sanity Check. The topics we’re addressing—everything from corruption in the family court system to exemplary small businesses and up-and-coming artists—are not relegated to one small region.

That’s why we want to expand. We plan to grow our media presence across the country, from the already-receptive Carolinas and Texas and then out to all other states. Our first target is the Poconos in Northeastern PA, and then, the World! Or, you know, maybe San Antonio.

Your contribution will help us to launch our next print edition in the Poconos, which will cover both Monroe and Pike counties. The money we raise will go directly toward printing and distribution costs, keeping Sanity Check on the air, and purchasing necessary equipment. 

We give everyone the chance to be heard by publishing voices otherwise marginalized by "establishment" media. By taking charge of your message through our media platform, you participate in your own freedom. Stand with us today, and help bring the spirit of a free press to the Poconos and beyond. We need your support to make it happen.

  

What We Need & What You Get

In order to launch the Independent Gazette in the Poconos and expand our existing publications, we need to meet the costs of printing and distribution for the printed paper, purchase video equipment for covering and posting events to the online paper, fund an increase in both publication frequency and overall volume for our Scranton, Wilkes-Barre, and Trenton papers, and secure studio time for our Sanity Check broadcasts. Our goal is to fund the basic necessities of running these outlets for a year. The costs include:  

• $14,400 in start-up printing costs for the Pocono IG
• $8,000 for curbside distribution boxes
• $2,600 for audio and video equipment
• $13,500 to expand our existing editions
• $7,500 to produce Sanity Check

In return for your generous contribution, we're offering some exciting perks!  

At the $10 level, you'll receive a personal "thank you" via email from the Muckraker staff, inclusion as a contributor on our family of websites, including the Pocono IG, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre IG, and Muckraker News sites, and one of both Muckraker pins shown below.

At the $25 level, you'll receive the previous perks, as well as the first issue of the Pocono Independent Gazette in the mail and an exclusive "Cooking with Blake" eBook. Created by chef Blake Belleman, it includes several favorites from his "Cooking with Blake" column, as well as other exclusive recipes, all found only in this eBook.

At the $50 level, you'll receive all previous perks, as well as a high-quality Muckraker T-shirt.

At the $100 level, you'll receive all previous perks, as well as a one-year subscription to both the Wilkes-Barre and Scranton editions of the Independent Gazette in the mail, plus a personal shout-out from host Lou on Sanity Check.

At the $100 level, you also have the option of a quarter page (4.5" x 7.5") grayscale ad in the Wilkes-Bare, Scranton, and Pocono papers, as well as on our family of websites—for either your business, or the charity, organization, or cause of your choice. You will also receive all previous perks, including a personal shout-out from host Lou on Sanity Check. You'll also receive all $10-$50 perks.

At the $250 level, you'll receive all $10-$50 perks, as well as a half page (9.5" x 7.5") grayscale ad in the Wilkes-Barre, Scranton, and Pocono papers, as well as on our family of websites, for either your business, or the charity, organization, or cause of your choice.

At the $500 level, you'll receive all $10-$50 perks, as well as a full page (9.5" x 15.5") grayscale ad in the Wilkes-Bare, Scranton, and Pocono papers, as well as on our family of websites, for either your business, or the charity, organization, or cause of your choice. 

At the $1,000 level, you'll receive all $10-$50 perks, as well as a full page (9.5" x 15.5") color ad in the Wilkes-Barre, Scranton, and Pocono editions of the Independent Gazette, as well as on our family of sites, for either your business, or the charity, organization, or cause of your choice. Also, we will write a business spotlight for the charity, organization, or cause of your choice to be featured in the paper.

At the $2,500 level, you'll receive all $10-$50 perks, as well as six months of half-page (9.5" x 7.5") color ads in the Wilkes-Barre, Scranton, and Pocono editions of the Independent Gazette, as well as on our family of sites, for either your business, or the charity, organization, or cause of your choice. Plus, we'll write a business spotlight for the charity, organization, or cause of your choice to be featured in the paper. Also, you will have the opportunity to co-host an episode of Sanity Check along with hosts Mike and Lou.

At the $5,000 level, you'll receive all $10-$50 perks, as well as six months of half-page (9.5" x 7.5") color ads in the Wilkes-Barre, Scranton, and Pocono editions of the Independent Gazette, as well as on our family of sites, for either your business, or the charity, organization, or cause of your choice. Plus, we will write a business spotlight for the charity, organization, or cause of your choice to be featured in the paper. Also, you will have the opportunity to co-host an episode of Sanity Check along with hosts Mike and Lou.

The Impact

Here at Muckraker, we feel that it is our duty to find and report the truth, no matter the push back from powerful special interest groups. Recently, we began reporting broken on horrible abuses within the family court system of Lackawana and Luzerne Counties in PA (and have included testimonials from around the country), doing our best to bring the corruption to light and to fight for the rights of both children and their parents. While these injustices appear to have been going on for years, the press had remained silent—until we broke the story.

In addition, the 2014 election cycle is upon us, and we're committed to bringing you the information you need to make informed decisions at the ballot box. By launching a new print edition and expanding our current outlets, we'll be better equipped to give you the information you need when you need it through fair, honest coverage of the candidates.

   

Other Ways You Can Help

Times are tough, and if you aren't able to help out financially right now, we understand.  But spreading the word is free! Feel free to share our campaign via the links below, or email this page to friends and family.

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