I've always wanted to dabble in amateur reporting myself and it seems like we're pretty well positioned to publish fully uncensored leftist content. The recent post on Belarus and just the energy I feel from the server in general leads me to feel like we have a responsibility to elevate ourselves beyond just shitposting and providing support to our comrades as an online space.
E.G. there's a lot of stuff going on regarding homeless advocacy where I am but doxing myself has always been a concern.
I think it's a great idea for anyone who entertains the idea of independent journalism to give it a shot! So much can be achieved simply by interviewing those in your community: advocates, members of marginalized communities, neighbors, and even political adversaries.
This is a challenge though. Anonymous bylines usually just don't play as well with readers (unless you're the Economist lol).
Yeah I gave an anonymous radio interview to a local station a month or so ago when the protests first kicked off. And yeah fuck The Economist.
Edit: just to reiterate this is a serious post and I am thinking of doing some actual reporting/interviews with locals and possibly posting here.
I think it would be hard when you're just getting started to simultaneously be the subject of journalism (giving anonymous interviews to other orgs) and producing journalism yourself. I would look to other young indie journalists who have successfully built an audience from twitter/substack/blogging/etc