It’s against my nature to ask for help. On the other hand, I encourage people to stop being stubborn or prideful when they’re faced with situations that require assistance. It’s time for me to take my own advice.
The New Americana is under attack. Most of you probably don’t realize it because we’ve been doing what it takes to keep the site up and running, but there have been several hack attempts in recent months and a current DDoS attack attempting to take the site down completely. This has slowed us tremendously; while users should see very little difference thanks to caching, editors and writers are having to work in very fragile conditions in order to not lose their efforts to the digital abyss.
They say if you’re not making enemies, you’re not trying hard enough. We’re making enemies. We’ve been trolled on social media hard in recent weeks. Ever since bringing on Steve Berman and a stable of very talented writers two months ago, we’ve seen traffic increase… as well as an increase in the attacks against us. We have thick skin; words aren’t enough to deter us.
A couple of weeks ago, a piece was written about us ridiculing us for our poor fundraising efforts. I admit I didn’t read it until today when I learned of the DDoS attack. I wanted to see if the attack was encouraged by the article. It wasn’t. However, the piece did point to the biggest challenge we face: lack of revenue. We’ve chosen to minimize ads and to keep them below the actual content on the homepage because people don’t come to the site for the ads. They come for conservative news and opinions so that’s what we intend to deliver. With that said, we need help.
Here’s an excerpt from the Tribune article:
Since the Never Trumpers weren’t happy with the way most (but certainly not all) of the right-leaning media got on board with Trump, some decided to start up their own #NeverTrump websites, such as an ad-free conservative news aggregator site called The New Americana, which seemed specifically designed to compete with the generally pro-Trump Drudge Report.
The founder of that site, J.D. Rucker, published a piece in Medium in August 2016 explaining his reasoning for creating the site as well as challenging support for both Trump and failed Democrat nominee Hillary Clinton, insinuating that he and people like him were the only true “conservatives” in their principled stand against the two major party candidates.
While Rucker may have initially seen some support among his fellow Never Trumpers prior to the election, it would appear that his new site has had a rough go of things in the intervening months since Trump became president.
As such, Rucker created a GoFundMe account in February with the goal of raising $43,000 toward keeping his #NeverTrump site up and running, possibly even expanding it.
Unfortunately for him, it seems that there aren’t that many Never Trumpers left these days, at least not any with money they’d care to donate, as the fundraiser has only brought in a mere $3,270 from 54 different donors over six months. Sad.
Rucker and his crew would be hard-pressed to find a decent used car at that price, much less keep a website up and running sans advertising. (There’s a nasty lesson here in the principles of the free market.)
Nevertheless, he persists.
Yes, we do.
It should be noted that we’re not a “Never Trump” website. We’re a conservative site. When President Trump or anyone else does good conservative things, we’ll highlight them. When President Trump or anyone else does bad liberal things, we’ll highlight them as well. Our agenda is not to bash anyone in particular, just the liberal ideology spreading across the nation.
The money we’re asking for with our GoFundMe is for expenses only. We’re not trying to get rich. I’ve been self-funding this site from the beginning. It’s been taking its toll on my family, but we’ve been making the necessary sacrifices because we believe in the importance of it all. Between the attacks against us and the addition of a new baby to the family who has had two open heart surgeries since June, it’s time to make a tough decision. I cannot afford to fund the site, pay Steve, and start paying the writers (who have been wonderful volunteers thus far) without big time help from those who want this site to succeed.
I’m asking now for donations to keep TNA moving forward. We believe the cause is righteous and necessary in a society that continues to embrace more liberal ideas. The indoctrination happening in schools and through the media is pushing the nation further to the left. It’s imperative that small-government minded Americans have a venue through which they can find and share the right perspectives.
We are also looking for investors. Eventually, we’d love to add a TNA app and start promoting the site through social media media advertising. If you or someone you know has the funds to sink serious cash into this project, we’d love to talk. The best way to reach me is through Twitter.
Please don’t bank on the notion that we’ll get investors. We need an immediate infusion of cash through donations. It’s very hard for me to ask. As I write this, I’m literally feeling a little sick to my stomach, but as I mentioned earlier I need to take my own advice about not being stubborn or prideful. If we didn’t need the help, I wouldn’t be writing this article. We need the help.
