Support independent investigative journalism
Longtime readers may remember the print version of The Crash Report that appeared in a few now-defunct Portland newspapers a decade ago.
I’m excited to revive TCR on Substack, a platform that works well for my genre of investigative muckraking. By integrating video, audio and text, I’ll be able to tell meaningful stories in an accessible manner. And thanks to Substack’s “newsletter with comments” format, you and I and a community of readers can have conversations about the latest skullduggery and other issues plaguing our world. Publishing on Substack also allows me to avoid shadow-bans and other algorithmic tricks that make it difficult to report and discuss controversial subjects on traditional social media without interference from censors or snitches.
Be forewarned: sometimes TCR’s content will be disturbing, due to the plethora of bad folks in need of exposing. (Like far-right extremists and criminal priests.) Also, on occasion, TCR will be angry, especially while reporting on injustice, discrimination and privilege. Plus, via the new pod-series Coastie (featuring my salty tales from the late 1980s, fighting the War on Drugs and the War on Haitian Refugees), TCR will explore links between male bonding, bullying and toxic masculinity, which might be tough for the faint-of-heart.
And as the 2024 election looms, TCR and the Disinfomaniacs podcast will continue to monitor the chuds and other nefarious types intent on destroying democracy, local and otherwise. And since the Maine media seems incapable of identifying religious zealotry in local politics, TCR will report on the actions of the Christian-Nationalist lawmakers and wannabes pushing a biblical agenda in the statehouse.
Yikes.
Luckily, life in Maine is both dark and light. So is TCR.
To balance the gloom, I’ll be sharing short films, pictures and stories from my farmstead in the western foothills, a magical place inhabited by goats, pigs, chickens and other critters, both wild and domestic. Occasionally, I’ll delve into the print archives to republish my work from the olden days, reporting on the seamy side of pre-Internet life downeast.
Most importantly, though, TCR goes places others won’t.
