The story of the BP Oil Spill is huge–with local, state, regional, national and international implications. I have dedicated my time, talents and newspaper to telling the truth behind this environmental, health and economic disaster. We are in a battle against a multi-billion dollar corporation that sees Northwest Florida as an entry in a financial report. Games are being played all around us and I will not sit silently and see us lose our quality of life.
WEAR TV and PNJ will treat this like a hurricane…I will not. The question is how can we cover the BP Oil Spill more thoroughly–we are a small newspaper with limited resources
I’ve convinced The Daily Beast to join forces with the IN to form The Beast Corps –a team of free lance writers, college students and others who will cover the BP Oil Spill from Louisiana to the Florida Keys. Some will do it for free, but I’m trying to come up with some funds to pay for their efforts. Dawn Butler, Ryne Ziemba, Joshua Encinias, Hana Frenette and Ashley Hardaway have already agreed to help.
We are looking for more writers to join The Beast Corps. They need to have some experience or, at least college courses, in journalism and AP style. While I appreciate news tips and info from the general public, we don’t have time to re-write news reports so we need solid reporting skills.
If you want to write for us, email me at rick@inweekly.net or our Beastmaster Joani Delezen at joani@inweekly.net. Send me an example of your writing. Put “The Beast Corps” in the subject line. There won’t be much money in this, but we need more eyes, ears and pens on this.
To fund The Beast Corps, I’m asking for people to buy ads in the paper. Even small ones that are less than $40/week will help. You will see the money plowed back into the paper and this blog. The Beast Corps will be paid $25-$75 per story so you can see a direct connection between the ads and the coverage.
I thought about just asking for donations, but the ad will give you something in return. The ads can be for your business or in support of Emerald Coastkeepers or some volunteer organization. If you’re interested in advertising and help fund The Beast Corps, contact Jennifer, our sales director, at jennifer@inweekly.net.