Facts For Working People Blog: An Appeal to Readers

Richard Mellor

Afscme Local 444, retired

4-23-26

The writer must earn money in order to be able to live and to write, but he must by no means live and write for the purpose of making money. Marx

 

 

The so called free press, some 90% of our news comes from these ten corporations: source

 

Comrades, sisters and brothers,

 

My blog Facts for Working People seems to have a respectable audience. Last month it had 94,000 visits and as of today, 4-21-26 61,000 visits. In September last year it had 147,000, a record. Someone is reading it. I used to pay FB to get a wider audience or to direct a commentary at a specific area but that has become increasingly more complicated. 

 

I do not monetize the blog or its Facebook page. I am held to that by the old adage, “He who pays the piper calls the tune”. Unfortunately, a significant percentage of the blog traffic comes through Facebook.

 

According to Statista, total US ad spending was estimated at $455.93 billion by the end of 2025, and is expected to rise this year. Primary advertisers like Google, Amazon, drug companies, the health industry and others determine the content of the so-called news we get on television and in the print media. The coverage of Israel’s genocide and the present illegal war on Iran is an example, how strikes are reported for example.

 

I like The Andy Griffiths show here in the US, but it’s an old show and they know that seniors are watching it. So the viewer is bombarded with ads about ailments, some real and some concocted in the boardrooms of drug companies, that affect seniors and the advertiser has the drug you need; if you don’t think so, just ask your doctor.

 

I recall when the English singer Petula Clark had a show in the US and one segment had her doing a song with Harry Belafonte. She touched his arm or there was some physical contact and the Chrysler representative tried to stop it being aired; it might offend the southern viewer. Chrysler paid for the episodes through advertising. That shows us the root of racism and its society and its ruling class. There were no ads on our TV at that time and I thought it so strange a car company could do that.

 

I do not write for the blog like I used to as I always wanted it to be very much a working people’s platform and I think the readers are overwhelmingly working class and our allies. Among the middle class and academia. I initially hoped working people would send stories about life and work which hasn’t occurred; it’s just that working class people especially the blue collar sector in which I spent my working life, are not so familiar with writing in this way and some just don’t feel confident not only about writing publicly but also about defending what they write.

 

And while I would identify myself as a revolutionary socialist I do not have a sectarian approach to this and any contribution that is at least socially conscious, not racist or sexist can be published. The bottom line is does it advance the interests of working class people, does it help strengthen our class consciousness and working class unity.

 

But for numerous reasons I cannot write as much as I used to, not that I am skilled at writing but I did keep it going when it was getting maybe 100 visits a week.

 

I now publish pieces by writers whose work I think is important to the working class, or the class struggle in general, quite a few I subscribe to and others I would get off Facebook. I always have checked with the author’s initially even though they are in the public domain.

 

I subscribe to a number of sources, individual and institutional like the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post and until recently Foreign Affairs and the Financial Times. I would like to subscribe to the FT print edition but it is just too expensive, and it’s fairly costly for a digital subscription.

 

I also have Zoom that is used for meetings of some of the folks that are around the Blog or support it and I just paid $170 to renew that.

 

I am not broke but if you appreciate the political commentaries that I post to Facts For Working Peopleblog that I share on its Facebook Page at: http://www.facebook.com/FactsForWorkingPeople   or my Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/richard.mellor.58/  I would greatly appreciate some help financially. 

 

I spend a good 6 -8 hours a day, sometimes more if I can and while I realize I benefit from it as it’s my only political outlet these days, if you are reading this and you are a regular reader of the blog can you afford to donate some funds to help? There is a donate button on the blog and it is easy to use although it is rarely used otherwise I wouldn’t be appealing here. 

 

If a few people donated a small amount that would be helpful. Of course, I have had dreams of having some professional help me with design for the blog and building a You Tube channel that can be linked to it but I’ve given up on that. The blog and its FB page is fine.

 

Thanks for any help you can be in this regard.

 

Richard Mellor