By LAURA LOREK
Reporter with Silicon Hills News

Plato said: “Those who tell the stories rule society.”

That is why fake news is so harmful to everyone.

At Silicon Hills News, the news is real.

For the past six and a half years, I’ve worked without a paycheck to bring technology news to the people of Central Texas. Although we started with a $12,000 grant from New Media Women’s Entrepreneurs, we have not received outside funding other than sponsorship and advertising dollars. And it’s not for trying. We’ve applied for Knight Foundation grants, International Women’s Media Foundation grants and other programs. I’ve pitched to partners, angel investors and others. Advertising and sponsorships have been difficult to come by as a bootstrapped entrepreneur who is not only running the business side of Silicon Hills News, but also attends events, writes stories, handles social media, produces the newsletter, the podcast and manages freelance contributions, events and our annual technology calendar.

Austin and San Antonio have grown as technology centers tremendously since 2011 when Silicon Hills News launched. Our site has grown to more than 40,000 unique visitors, 20,000 social media followers, 2,000 email newsletter subscribers and now thousands of podcast downloads. In that time, Silicon Hills News has launched and run three successful Kickstarter campaigns. We’ve created six editions of a 32-page print magazine. We’ve created four annual tech calendars – three for Austin and one for San Antonio. We’ve also launched a failed TV show called Slice of Silicon Hills News. And we’ve launched a successful podcast called Ideas to Invoices. We reach a global audience. Texas is our top market, followed by California, Washington, Virginia, New York, Florida, Colorado, Boston and Illinois. And while most of our traffic comes from the U.S., our second top market is the United Kingdom, followed by India, Canada, Australia, Ireland, Japan, and Germany.

Now we’re launching on Patreon, it’s a site for creators, and we need your support. All we are asking is for you to pledge just $1 a month or $12 a year to Silicon Hills News so we can continue to produce original content for the Central Texas technology community. And you’ll feel good knowing that money is staying right here in Central Texas and is being poured back into the startup community producing quality news coverage.

What are you waiting for? Please pledge today! Our goal is to get 1,000 backers so we can be around for a long, long time just like the startups we cover. And if you ever want to get in touch with me, please send me an email or call. I’m happy to meet you for coffee in a place that provides free parking. 😊

A version of this article originally appeared on Medium.