Trump Will Soon Be Gone. But The Need For Independent Journalism Will Not

It’s the moment we’ve been waiting for. 

Donald Trump is trudging across the White House Lawn one last time. 

The Marine One helicopter awaits with its rotor blades whirring. 

Two Marine Corps guards stiffly salute as Trump walks up the stairs. He turns and gives the thumbs up sign to his supporters. He’s wearing his trademark red-and-white MAGA hat. 

And then he disappears into the belly of the giant metal insect, is lifted up into the sky and carried far, far away to gilded exile at Mar-a-Lago and hopefully to an endless barrage of lawsuits, indictments, trials and criminal convictions. 

Truth is, we don’t know what Donald Trump’s final moments as President will look like. He could skulk away in the dark of night before the Inauguration. Or, he could barricade himself in a White House bathroom madly tweeting at his supporters to come to his aid even as his successor is sworn into office. However it goes down, Trump’s presidency will be over on 12:01 pm on January 20, 2021. Nonetheless, 

• Trumpism won’t be over. 
  
• The D.C. swamp now headed by Joe Biden won’t be over.
  
• Everything that is rotten about a rigged political and economic system that privileges the few at the expense of the many won’t be over.
  
• The Forever Wars won’t be over. Nor Climate Change. 
  
• The need for visionary social movements and candidates striving for transformative change both outside and inside the system won’t be over.
  
• For New York City, the scourge of austerity won’t be over. 
  
• And the need for a media outlet like The Indypendent that combines shoe-leather reporting and incisive analysis of the issues and the grassroots movements that matter most certainly won’t be over. 

2020 has been a year like no other. We’ve persevered through a once-in-a century pandemic — continuing to publish our print edition while expanding our online presence, launching a weekly one-hour radio show on WBAI and hosting monthly Zoom discussions with prominent progressive organizers and thought leaders. And we continue to provide a unique space where young progressive journalists can hone their skills while going out and covering our wounded but still amazing city.

Over these past two decades, The Indy has emerged as a unique New York City institution. Think of it as a vaccine against the corporate propaganda and the lazy conventional wisdom that is commonplace in much of the media.  In June, shortly after we came out with a special edition amid the George Floyd protests, one of our readers, Priscilla Felia, sent us a handwritten note describing her reaction to seeing the new issue in one of our red-and-white outdoor newsboxes.

“I nearly jumped out of my sandals,” she wrote in a neat, handwritten script. “I was so excited I had to take extras for friends.”

We hope to give Indy readers many more reasons to leap out of their shoes in 2021. But to do that, we need your support now more than ever. 

Our ad revenues have dropped due to the pandemic. Some of our major funders have had to scale back their support. We’ve tightened our belt accordingly. But we can only take that so far. We know not everyone is able to give during these difficult times. But if you can do so, please give generously this year.  

With your support, everything is possible.

• • •

Read two young writers perspectives on their time at The Indy:
“My First Year at The Indypendent” by Amba Guerguerian
“Supporting The Indy Means Supporting young Journalists Like Me” by Katya Schwenck

Please support independent media today! Now celebrating its 20th anniversary, The Indypendent is still standing but it’s not easy. Make a recurring or one-time donation today or subscribe to our monthly print edition and get every copy sent straight to your home.