Jane Hamsher made the announcement today that Firedoglake is shutting down, and all archived posts will be moved over to Shadowproof, a new site run by Kevin Gosztala and Brian Sonenstein.
I have mixed feelings regarding this bit of news. My start in online activism and in digital marketing started with Firedoglake Action Fund, and I worked on the public option campaign, which I still care about to this day. Jane Hamsher brought Eve and I onboard because she saw our impact on other people online, and it was very much an eye-opening experience in working for FDL Action. I will always be thankful to Jane Hamsher and to Firedoglake for giving me that crucial start, regardless of Jane's actions online, and any scandals under her watch.
Some people here will definitely celebrate the closing of Firedoglake, and others will mourn its closing, but it goes to show that it is much harder to sustain online activism and a liberal presence on the internet than one would think. It requires funding, support, and constant engagement. If we want to support progressive activism and causes, we need to keep funding and being engaged with Dailykos Action campaigns, BoldProgressives, MoveOn, and other progressive organizations.
We're being out funded and out-done on the funding/activism front because the conservative movement has the tenacity, the funding from the rich 1%, and they've racked up electoral and Supreme Court victories. We can't be complacent during the primary season. We've got to keep working, to agitate, to spread our beliefs, rally support for these beliefs, and push progressive policies into the media spotlight.
Planned Parenthood is under attack by the conservative Right, and they need our help. We need to push back on social media, and write letters to the Editor about the truth behind Planned Parenthood, and how many women they help each year. When we stand by and do not challenge attacks on Planned Parenthood, we are letting women's reproductive rights be worn down and challenged. The conservative Right have been very good at taking those rights away because they do not believe in women as human beings.
And so it goes, in nearly every issue we are in support of, but do not successfully organize or support through funding. It is very hard to fund causes that we care about, with our income under attack by the 1%, and a reduction in our purchasing power with additional debt. We are in a perfect storm, where we know what we oppose, and we do not want these policies to be in place, but we are stuck economically, and bereft without access to tools to change our political paradigm.
So if you are anti-Firedoglake or pro-Firedoglake, you can celebrate or mourn its closing, but remember it is one more progressive site and a hub for activism that is gone from the Internet.