KJIPUKTUK (Halifax) – When I started the Nova Scotia Advocate in January I had no idea how it would work out. I told myself I would just give it a shot, and take stock in September.
The great news is that this little website is doing great. We’re at about 20,000 views per month and growing every month, the comment section is lively (and civilized), we run at least five stories per week, people are submitting their own stories, and I am having a wonderful time.
There are quite a few stories that we (un)covered first. Things like the terrible housing conditions in Spryfield, the worrisome safety record of the owner of the Donkin mine, there were others.
Sometimes other news organizations would pick up on these stories. We love that. We’re the Nova Scotia Advocate, after all.
When it comes to poverty, racism, workers’ rights, the environment, we do what we can. We go out of our way to get stories written by people like Kendall, Tim B, and others, whose lives are hard, and whose stories should be heard. Some stories you will only find here. At least they’re somewhere.
Lately I have been posting the Lives on Welfare stories. I am excited about this series, because it’s about the unfiltered voice of poor Nova Scotians. That’s the kind of thing the Advocate is all about.
In other words, the last eight months show that the Nova Scotia Advocate is viable, and that it is somewhat useful. Which means that I am going to stick with it, and see if we can grow it a bit more, and make it a bit better still.
If you think that’s a good thing then there are two things that you could do that would be most helpful.
You could maybe write the odd article, once in awhile. Chances are you know a lot about something or other, and that you have strong opinions on certain things, and readers would likely benefit if you were to share your knowledge.
Or, much easier than writing, just send money. Monthly, or just once, a little bit or a huge amount, our trusty donate button can handle it all.
I will never be salaried, but running the site and covering the news is actually quite expensive. Also, I would really like to pay our low-income contributors more consistently.
Once there is too much money I will tell you to stop. Bigger is better, but only up to a point. I need a life beyond the Advocate as well.
Thank you very much!
GRATEFUL to you,for opening eyes so to speak,i am married,husband is on cpp disability and we are subsidized by assistance,there is not much help for us , as we do not have kids,and i know of a large building that is new and empty and been empty for some time,in greenwich and i was told that the building is for seniors who ar low income-well why is it still empty…i just dont understand,makes no sence at all….recently i saw an ad on kijiji for low income in lawrencetown,hoping we get in,although it will be a huge change,i am very used to being close to amenities so it will be hard if we are even chosen,we have been told so many things and i have been so depressed here where i live that i was suicidal-i even reached out to get help out og here but we are still waiting-its like no-one cares.