Introducing VOICES: River City

 

Sacramento. The capital of the free world. For a city like ours—growing at the pace it is, where decisions are made concerning the entire state of California—this town has a remarkably small media presence. We can do better.

This is VOICES: River City.

Run by myself and reporter Blake Gillespie (when he’s got the time), V:RC will add to the region’s chorus of voices with an unapologetic arc to the Left.

We want this to serve as a space for progressive commentary and essays, with some independent reporting in the mix. We believe in giving a voice to the voiceless, in comforting the fucked and fucking the comfortable. Expect that to shine in our work.

V:RC will also serve as a vehicle to show off Sacramento’s talent. Comedians, scientists, artists, musicians. Got something weird or cool going on? Let us know.

We’re always looking out for quality, original writing. You can learn more about that here. In short, we want the following:

• Unique, funny, irreverent voices. If it’s weird, genuine and well-written, we want to give you a platform. We believe there is a veritable ocean of talent in this town and nowhere near enough publications to sustain it all.
• Folks who punch up, not down. If you speak truth to power, and you speak it well, we want to hear what you’ve got to say. If you’re looking for a platform to complain about the homeless community, move the fuck on.
• Spectrum-friendly reporting. Listen, we love white dudes. Some of our best friends are white dudes. Hell, we’re white dudes. But too often media outlets are overrepresented by that demographic, and we want to help make that change. We want to strive for diversity on this platform in every sense of the word. That means voices from all genders, races, sexual orientations, economic backgrounds, etc. are encouraged to submit work.
• Journalistic integrity and grit. This might be a big ask, given our budget. But if you’ve got real reporting that you feel needs to see the light of day, we want to help you make that happen.
• Local. Sure, we’ll consider pieces on issues outside of Sacramento. But the further your focus gets from the Capitol region, the better your work needs to be.
• Multimedia. We’re not picky here at V:RC. If you’ve got some video, or audio, or photography, or a work of graphic art as commentary, we may be down to carry it–so long as you’re not using us as a platform for blatant advertising.

If any of this sounds like you, email me at kempa@voicesrivercity.com.

Keep in mind that this entire operation is currently run on a volunteer basis. I will be starting a Patreon account to provide readers the option of supporting our local, independent reporting on a regular basis. For now, please feel free to donate via PayPal. The idea is that I want to pay my writers (well) for the work that they’re doing. I’ll need some community support to make that happen.

That’s it for now. If you’re into what we’re doing, please follow us on Facebook and Twitter, sign up for our newsletter and tell your friends and family about V:RC.

Stay tuned.

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