This issue marks the eighth volume of The Progressive Populist, and the seventh full year we have published our "Journal from the Heartland." Thanks to your support we have made it this far. With your continued support we will keep on providing progressive populist points of view that you aren't likely to find in your mainstream corporate press on issues of interest to workers, small businesses and family farmers and ranchers.
This past year we grew by about 25% and finally surpassed 5,000 in circulation. That is an important milestone that has helped to stabilize our cash flow and cool off our checking account. We're still behind on the printing bill and a few other debits, but it's nothing serious and we'll catch up if you'll pay attention to those early renewal notices and not wait until the last pleading, tear-stained letter before you surrender your check or credit card number for another year's subscription.
We're still showing a slow but steady gain of subscribers as the word trickles out about our journal that believes that people are more important than corporations. Here again you are our most important resource. You have friends and family members; give your favorites a subscription for $20 each. (As one benefactor wrote, "Some will like it. Some won't. That's the way it goes with Christmas gifts.") If you're not sure they're worth $20, send us their addresses and we'll mail them a free sample copy. You also can set up your local library, barber shop, coffee shop or other reading room with a gift subscription for $20. See the coupon on the back page.
If each of you give a gift subscription and/or pester a friend until they finally cough up the money to buy their own subscription, we can double our circulation, pay off the printer and other vendors and continue to provide what Utne Reader in its Alternative Press Award nominations for 2001 recognized as one of the best political magazines in the country. (You can vote for us at www.utne.com/apa by the way. Winners will be announced in January.)
Please help us keep up the good work, and have a happy and hopeful new year.
Thanks.
-- JIM CULLEN, Editor