It brings me no pleasure to chronicle topics like the two stories below this post.

But if I don’t do it, there is little indication that the mainstream media will do so on a consistent basis.

Oh, when a story pops up, they’ll jump on it and then quickly move on to the next hot button issue.

LouisianaVoice covered the less than ethical approach to management at Louisiana State Police for more than three years before the MSM jumped in at the last moment to claim credit for breaking the story about the ill-advised San Diego trip that led to the resignation of LSP Superintendent Mike Edmonson.

Likewise, the MSM jumped on board when we broke the story about Superintendent of Education John White’s agreeing to provide Rupert Murdoch and his companies with sensitive information about Louisiana public school students.

But for the large part, they have ignored our stories about efforts to sell water from Toledo Bend to Texas businessmen, the raping of the a 17-year-old girl in a Union Parish jail cell more than 17 months ago—an investigation of which the attorney general’s office still hasn’t managed to conclude, the comical but unsuccessful attempt by the Jindal administration to silence those with differing opinions by firing them or reassigning legislators to other committees, the influence of campaign contributions on legislative decisions, and the list goes on.

That’s why LouisianaVoice exists: to give you a peek at the ugly underbelly of politics so that you may know what your elected officials and their appointees are really up to.

But we cannot continue to do this without your support.

That’s the only reason we hold two fundraisers per year—one in the fall and one in the spring. We have to have income to underwrite our work. It doesn’t take much, but it does take money in addition to the time we invest on research tips, some of which lead to stories and many that turn out to be dead-ends. But even the dead-end stories sometimes are resurrected when additional information becomes known.

That’s why I am asking for your financial support, no matter how large or small. Every bit helps us keep the stories coming.

Please click on the yellow “DONATE” icon at the right and give what you feel you can by credit card or by sending a check to:

LouisianaVoice

P.O. Box 922

Denham Springs, Louisiana 70727

Thank you for your consideration.

Tom Aswell, publisher