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The IMI Journal: June 2021 Edition: Americans Shell Out for Entertainment Media and Corporate News, But Not Independent Media

June 16, 2021

I’ve asked two dozen of my colleagues: How much do you pay monthly for all your media subscriptions—and how much of that goes to any of the organizations that are independent, and fighting hard to make the world a better place?

The answers I’ve received show a pattern of monthly subscriptions for most corporate and commercial media: Spotify, $9.99; Netflix, $8.99; Apple TV and Music, $14.95; YouTube, $11.99; Disney+, $7.99; Discovery+, $6.99; Amazon Prime, $12.99.

That totals about $75 per month, plus an average cable/internet bill of $200. It quickly adds up to a number around $3,300 annually in the U.S.

Guess how much my colleagues told me they pay for independent media?

$20 per year, total.

Independent media is necessary to make any kind of social progress—but when it comes to paying for it, our habit as a society is to pay media companies for entertainment instead.

Consider your own patterns, and if you think you might get more out of independent media and everything it can accomplish—whether that’s a better health care system, more sustainable environmental practices, a stronger education system, or a more equal society—than you would with unlimited TV series to binge on, then please join us and support our mission and important work.

Please join us now—we need you in our court.

And if you aren’t up to date, please catch up with our recent work:

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Arizona Senate Challenged by Experienced Election Auditors to Let Them Confirm 2020 Voting Results

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Forests Are Crucial to Combating Climate Change—Will Biden Rise to the Challenge?

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Is the Rise of QAnon Conspiracies the ‘End Times’ for U.S. Democracy?

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How the Tulsa Race Massacre Was a Violent Act of Racist Economic Injustice

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Humanity’s #1 Environmental Problem Is Consumption—Climate Change Is Just One of the Byproducts

Reynard Loki – Earth | Food | Life

Does the U.S. Really Need Another Oil Pipeline?

Sonali Kolhatkar – Economy for All

Thanks from Jan Ritch-Frel and the rest of the IMI team—please join us.

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