Wanted: three hundred good people
The AIMN needs the help of 300 good people. I’ll get to the “who” and “why” shortly.
When The AIMN started up over five years ago we were just another WordPress blog, unaware that within six months we were going to be among the widest-read political blogs in Australia. Admittedly we did have high expectations, but our growth certainly went beyond them.
This growth, however, meant that we could no longer remain “just another WordPress blog.”
We said “goodbye” to the free version of WordPress; had the site built by a professional web-developer, found a new web host, and took on more writers.
And all was good. And we continued to grow.
And grow …
And grow …
And grow.
But with that growth came an unforeseen problem.
Our traffic was too large for the server – the server we shared with 500 other websites – and would crash at least daily, taking down not only The AIMN but the 500 websites who shared our server.
There was no alternative but to migrate The AIMN to what is called a “dedicated server”: a server for The AIMN alone, and one that could cater for our high volume of traffic.
Dedicated servers come at a cost, in our case $3,000 a year. In our first year, we were 50% subsidised by our web host.
In about six weeks we need to find $3,000 for the annual server renewal.
By the good grace of the many people who donate the The AIMN, and the income from advertising that appears on our site, we are able to not only pay our ever-increasing web developer costs, but more importantly, reward our wonderful authors for their fantastic and tireless contributions. In our opinion – and I’m sure that many of you would agree – they are among the best that independent journalism offers. They are the reason we continue to grow. They are the reason you are one of the thousands of people who visit The AIMN every day.
They deserve all the rewards they can get.
Sadly, unless we can find $3,000 there will be no AIMN.
This is why we need 300 good people. If, between now and the end of May, 300 people could commit to donating $10 to The AIMN we will survive another year. (Or you may wish to commit $10 a year each April or May).
With an election likely within the next twelve months, what an important year for us it is! We want to make a difference. We can make a difference.
The other upside is that through our regular donations – and the income we receive from our advertisements – our writers receive better rewards for their tireless efforts.
Everyone’s a winner.
If you want to be one of the 300, your contribution will help us meet our target, and will be gratefully accepted.
You can donate through PayPal or credit card via the button below:
Or alternatively, you can donate your $10 via bank transfer:
BSB: 062500; A/c no: 10495969
As our readers would know, we are not in the habit of asking directly for donations, however in this case we are making an exception. The reason being, for The AIMN’s survival. We need to be able to pay for our server. It’s as simple as that.
Thanking you in advance for considering us.
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Christina Heath
Return to home pageDone.
done, I NEED my daily blog to survive in this increasingly lunatic country
Done – with the greatest pleasure.
Thank you for asking. My donation is on the way to a more than worthy outfit.
Done, with pleasure.
done. Even though I do not post – rest assured I am still an avid lurker.
You have 10 years worth!
I attempted to donate via PayPal on my iPad, but couldn’t change the amount from the default $0.00
$50 on the way. Thanks AIMN … my most anticipated and appreciated daily dose of ethical common decency and truth!
Done. I’d really miss ANIM.
I love the AIM Network and will gladly donate through bank transfer. I don’t comment often but I read regularly…and what is more I trust what I read. May you prosper. Thank you.
Done.
This is a great site and we at DLATP will help in any way we can. We have posted this up on our page. Truth is the mightiest hammer and a page like AIM is needed more than ever!
Done with pleasure. Always a good read at the AIM. May your influence grow.
I also am an avid reader, and will donate. You are the only news site that covers Aus politics.
I can do that for you. You are were I get my real news from so I want you to stay around. I’m unemployed but will spend the $’s to get the news. Thank you
Migs, What Jeff Hargraves said…though I’m on a Samsung Galaxy. ..I can’t change the $ value from nought, 😕also. Mayhap a PayPal button is required…or maybe we could do the old brown paper bag in the car park routine,…. just sayin’ 😜
……and, if you would but notice, not only am I willing to give you a buck or 2, I didn’t ‘say’ one derogatory remark about Port..☺
Thank you, everyone. The response has been overwhelming and were almost half way there.
LOVO, it doesn’t let you change the default value by using the back button … you only need to type over it.
😳 …Done !!!!
Do we, like, get a badge or something now….
….or maybe a T-shirt with AIMN ‘stuff’ written all over it……now I’d buy that….mm! 😎
Done : with pleasure & thanks !
$20 sent. Wish I could send more.
Done, thanks aimn
I’m in – AIMN is too good a resource, in the age of #MurdochMedia to let it slide
Just donated $20. Thank you for giving this opportunity. And good luck with the server! Thanks AIMN
I just donated $50 via PayPal,or rather it was hubby…he’s already got a receipt…
Money matters are so tedious…Smiley.
Bank transfer , thanks to you all.
Done 5 years worth – bank transfer – my thanks to AIMN and writers
Worth every cent!
As an author I am deeply indebted to you all.
The only site worth donating to. Keep up the good work.
AIMN,
What has happened to the AIMN Application.
I lost mine in a factory reset of my tablet.
S G B
Done, all the best with it
Done, and thanks for being my “go to” source of quality journalism.
Done, although whether I qualify as “good” is debatable.
Thanks for all the awesome independent reporting. Happy to donate $10.00 despite being on a Disability Pension.
We must keep this happening as Main Stream Media right-winged bias and control by 2 international billionaire mongols has to stop both here in Australia and around the world.
Done. The number of comments Saying this is their preferred ethical news site made me think that should have a daily news update with a brief actual news for the day (with links) as used to happen on the Political Sword. The rest are opinion pieces and well worth it but a news recap each morning is sorely needed.
Doneski
Done with pleasure. Thank you to the admin team.
Done. I’m not a 100% fan of AIMN but there is more than enough for me to want to keep the AIMN online.
Carol and I would like to thank everybody for their kind words and support. It has truly warmed our hearts to learn that this site means so much to so many people.
The response to this appeal has encouraged us to fight harder than ever.
We are getting close to reaching our target and hope to have some good news for you within the next 24 hours.
Again, a big thank you.
Yes to Pappinbarra Fox – a daily news roundup, with links, from a wide range of alternative “heterodox” news feeds and media. Might cost $ to source and collate but many would contribute
We did something similar to that in our early days, a “Six of the Best” – being the six best non-AIMN articles we’d read during the week. It lasted for two weeks. It was simply too hard for one person working solo.
By memory, Carol put up those posts. But that was before we were married. She’s faaar too busy now. 😀
I understand – looking after you is a full time job.
And one she relishes in, joni. 😀
Lol, Joni…😂 .. like the saying goes “Behind every good man etc”
Michael, it’s probably possible to add a feed from Wikinews. They’re kinda focussed on USA (naturally), though their front page does have an Australian story today, and they have a section specifically for Oceania at https://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Category:Oceania
It’s done by the Wikipedia people and uses citizen journalism.
Their stuff is under Creative Commons CC BY (meaning you’re free to: Share — copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format; Adapt — remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially). If you’re unsure, you can contact them: https://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Wikinews:Contact_us
If an automated feed was used it could present headlines and stories without using any of your time.
Miriam
I second your suggestion, believing as I do in the interconnectedness of everything. Linking up the 5th estate (within manageable chunks) is a very proactive step forward.
Miriam, I’ll look into that.
It’s not something I can freely add (not because it is beyond my skills) but because there is a copyright over the site design by the web developer firm. Only they can make changes to the design. And at $132 an hour (per person) it can be rather costly to make changes.
Nonetheless, I’ll at least get them to give me a quote.
The other thing to consider is; what do we take down to make way for it?
Space is getting a bit tight, but you wouldn’t need to take anything out to make space for it. It could go in the left column that’s mostly empty, or under the most recent comments in the right-hand column.
Wow! $132 per hour! I help a friend with his computer in return for eggs, another with her computer for goat cheese, and another with her computer for a cooked lunch. I maintain the local hall website http://gheerullahall.com and a website for a whole lot of community halls on the Sunshine Coast http://sunshinecoastcommunityhalls.com mostly for free (though they did get me some money a while back).
Rather than the hassle of incorporating other news into AIMN, why not …….
a) have a side-bar list of URLs to “sites we [AIMN] like” that people can click on
or
b) people make their own list of preferred news and info sites (bookmarks, favourites, etc depending on your browser), again, easy to click
or
c) subscribe to a (free) feed reader and add your preferred sources to it. Most sites produce an RSS feed. In some quarters RSS is considered low/old tech but it works fine. Once you sign up, new posts from your preferred sites “just arrive there” for easy reading with one click.
I use (c) most of the time. I’ve got (b) set up and use it occasionally if I’m looking for something specific.
I wish it were that simple.
Any additions to a blank space might look good when added in, but you find that it throws everything out when you look at the site on a different device.
It might look like a good fit on a PC, but it doesn’t work on an iPad, or vice versa.
I found that out the hard way. 😢
I guess I could add it to this tab:
Done! More power to you, your contributors and your (hopefully) growing number of readers who want independent media to thrive!
Sounds like Abraham, Lot and Sodom and Gomorrah.
Michael, I take your point re layout – I have also learned the hard way on blogs of my own :-/
Adding to the affiliated sites list would work – perhaps with an occasional post (e.g. “Recently added sites”) to alert people to new/recently discovered sites worth having a look at.
I personally think people building their own DIY list, via a feed reader or as a list of favourites/bookmarks, is the best way to go. No work for you (unless you add to the affiliated sites list) and people have quick access on their own desktops/home pages to sites they prefer most.
There is a limit, you can’t follow everything.
Thank you again for the support you have all kindly given to The AIMN. With the funds that have been raised/committed we will have enough for the dedicated server costs and we will be here fighting during this important year.
It couldn’t have been possible without you.
That is great news, Michael.
Feeling slightly less irritable now.
🙂
I can’t donate. It only allows me to donate 0.00! I’ll try later. Must be some temporary glitch.
It doesn’t let you delete the $0.00, instead you simply type over it.
Done, more than happy to help.
Have been away on a road trip so only made the deposit today. Keep up the good work.
I have just donated $20. Sorry for the delay. Keep up the great work. I look forward to your articles everyday. I was just wondering what has happened to the no of subscribers. They seem to have suddenly reduced dramatically.