Replying to Avatar L0la L33tz

Bitcoin journalism is fucked.

I started The Rage because I'm tired of investors and advertisers telling me what to do for below minimum wage compensation.

What we need are publications willing to let journalists investigate the crap out of the companies, representatives and people enabling the building of surveillance tech behind the scenes.

What we get are publications selling out to corporations, startups and politicians writing public relations puff pieces to keep their returns on track. The point of journalism is to hold power to account, not to become its bedfellow.

There is no lack of talented, experienced, investigative journalists covering bitcoin. The problem is that they write what the powers that be don't want you to hear – so many are out of a job, dabbling away at the next press release for mainstream media, or doing below-minimum wage contract work to pay the bills.

I'm incredibly overwhelmed by all the positive feedback we've been getting for The Rage. In just 8 weeks we've scooped major publications and drove discussions around AML, Samourai and Tornado Cash together with your help. We've even made enough to cover operations with almost 400$ raised, thanks to all the zappers out there.

But here's the thing. I didn't come here to write a good piece every once in a while leaving stories untold left and right because I can't afford to focus on investigations full time. I came here to fuck up the financial surveillance complex. That's why The Rage now needs your help.

We're trying to raise 0.25BTC so we can contract the best investigative journalists in the Bitcoin space to tell the stories that major publications can't afford to print.

If you value your financial freedom, please consider donating via our Geyser fund. We cannot do this without your help.

https://geyser.fund/project/therage

My cofounder nostr:npub164zvez3yf5rjsgmhfpxfwqy8vsuexv75t056a4et4l605lcpw6gqctwtjq pointed me in this direction. I just wanted to say that we both relate to this a lot when it comes to working on nostr:npub1w9wuqc3s6lr25c4sgj52werj3tngvt43qrccqrher4wvn7tjm32s2ck403.

There are all kinds of headaches and logistical hurdles to starting a news publication, from finding passionate and qualified writers to hours of dedicated research to editing stories to get them exactly right.

When I started this thing, I just thought it would be neat if the Social Web had their own "OMG! Ubuntu" site for that particular space. Over time, though, I've become way more interested in telling human stories, and reporting on some of the uglier, harsher things that come up: infighting, monopolization, ecosystem problems, CSAM, doxxing, you name it.

I decided some time ago that I'd stop being a cheerleader, and start reporting the actual news, even if it made people mad. I still get to write cool and fun pieces, but this decision has helped shape the kind of culture our organization is about.

We're still in the process of figuring out incorporation and fundraising ourselves. It's really tough! But I just wanted to say that we see you, relate to an lot of what you're doing, and wish you the best on your journey!

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