Sarah Godlewski knew what she wanted to say; she just needed some help saying it. Last December, she attended an all-day op-ed writing workshop put on by the Progressive Media Project in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
The co-founder of an impact investment venture, Godlewski was upset about a proposed constitutional amendment to eliminate the state treasurer’s office, which seemed likely to pass.
Launched by The Progressive in 1993, the Progressive Media Project trains dozens of people each year in the art of op-ed writing. It also makes op-eds available to newspapers across the country, through an arrangement with the Tribune News Service. In 2017, the project sent out seventy-one op-eds; so far this year, through the end of September, we’re well past sixty. These have reached a total of 2.5 million readers, based on the circulation of the papers. Many of our writers are black, Latinx, LGBTQ, Native American, or from other underrepresented groups.
After attending our workshop, Godlewski wrote a powerful op-ed urging that the treasurer’s office be preserved as an instrument of fiscal accountability. More than a dozen Wisconsin papers picked it up. In April, Wisconsin voters soundly rejected the treasurer-elimination amendment.
Godlewski, whose op-ed and advocacy helped secure this result, then threw her hat into the ring for treasurer. In August, she won a three-way Democratic primary, besting a former, less-activist state treasurer. She now faces an uninspiring, nonincumbent Republican rival in November.
“Through my op-ed, I was able to raise awareness on a serious matter that had [previously gotten] minimal attention,” Godlewski told us recently. “I would never have had this platform without the quality instruction, helpful coaching, and support of the amazing staff. I can accurately say, as a result of the Progressive Media Project, we preserved democracy in Wisconsin.”
We are proud of this project and of Public School Shakedown, which tracks rightwing school privatization efforts. But our ability to continue these endeavors, and the other good work of The Progressive, is at risk. We are, not for the first time and perhaps not the last, in critical need of a cash infusion. The magazine is tens of thousands of dollars in debt; our income is not keeping up with our outgo. It’s serious.
Keep that in mind as you read this issue, and as you check out the stories we publish daily on Progressive.org. Use the envelope at page 37 to help us out if you can, or go directly to our donation page on our website. We want to be able to continue to be, objectively, the best little political magazine in America.
“I can accurately say, as a result of the Progressive Media Project, we preserved democracy in Wisconsin.”
See our coverage of the midterms, from John Nichols’s thoughtful essay on how they will shape the character of the two major parties for some time to come, and his exclusive interview with New York Congresswoman-to-be Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez; to Michael Sainato’s examination of key progressive races cresting into what may be a Blue Wave this November; to Erik Gunn’s analysis of Randy Bryce’s effort to replace Paul Ryan in Congress; to Robert Lowes’s study of the various ways that Republicans, mostly, have set out to suppress votes.
This issue also has several incisive stories on Latin America. Kimberley Brown reports on the killing of civilians in Colombia. Douglas Haynes sizes up the internal struggle in Nicaragua. And Jeff Abbott reflects on the Trump Administration’s revived interest in the region, especially Guatemala.
Other stories in this issue include Rebecca Nathanson’s eye-opening examination of the rise of pro-Trump reactionaries in Europe and Amitabh Pal’s look at India’s Trumpish prime minister. Apparently, it’s contagious.
See, too, Tessie Castillo’s troubling story on the spike in prosecutions of those who provide drugs to people who die from taking them, and Esty Dinur’s look at how California’s burgeoning legal pot market may spell doom for small-scale farmers.
Finally we have a Bill Press book excerpt and our usual array of columnists, now joined by a most unusual one: Maeve Higgins, a great humorist, writer, and podcaster. She’s a gas ticket.
Thank you for reading and supporting The Progressive and helping us out in our time of need. We’ll return the favor by being as excellent as possible.
Bill Lueders
Managing Editor