Ben Swann Seeks To Make History By Raising $1.25 Million Through KickStarter

[ItsTime]

Ben Swann's press release has been...well.... released.

"Award Winning Journalist Seeks To Make History By Raising $1.25 Million Through KickStarter."



For Immediate Release:

Beginning Monday, June 10, 2013, investigative journalist Ben Swann will make history launching the largest ever attempt to crowd-source investigative journalism through his “Liberty is Rising, Truth in Media” project on www.Kickstarter.com.

The Kickstarter project has a base goal of $1.25 million dollars to launch a 3 level platform to inform, engage and activate Americans across the political spectrum. Swann plans to create 100 high-end digital cinema episodes of his web show Ben Swann Full Disclosure for distribution on www.BenSwann.com and on streaming sites such as Netlfix, Hulu and Spotify. In addition, Swann will be rolling out a highly interactive, informative website that will include all Full Disclosure episodes, a forum, Ben Swann podcasts and a mobile app.

“We believe that this Kickstarter project is about more than just media, it is a genuine attempt to investigate issues the mainstream media in America is not covering. Issues like the Federal Reserve, CISPA, drone strikes, the drug war, etc, are what the American people are asking for. This will be journalism by the people, for the people.” says Swann.

Ben Swann, a two-time Emmy award and two-time Edward R. Murrow award winning journalist has worked as an Anchor/Investigative reporter covering Mexicoʼs drug war in El Paso Texas and the 2012 Presidential election from Cincinnati, Ohio. His internationally known Reality Check and Full Disclosure series have been viewed over 10 million times in 140 countries.



For more on the project, www.BenSwann.com

You can view the full Kickstarter project:
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/439668500/liberty-is-rising-truth-in-media-project-0

Contact: Ron@BenSwann.com

Edit to add the trailer


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsA3PGQb0xo

[Reason]

Pledged $100 =)

[EBounding]

Wow...that's quite ambitious.

[nobody's_hero]

Wow...that's quite ambitious.

It's Go big or go home, I guess.

Not like he's gonna get any corporate sponsors on this, but if we don't have a media outlet we'll never win & keep political victories.

[talkingpointes]

Ben can do it! If anyone can, he can. There will be a lesson to learn here to for all the sloth-like neckbeards.

Ben is a slick looking guy and will be an attractive suit to help in the female demographic. He is extremely smart and dedicated, getting his masters at 16 which will impress most guys and nerds.

I have always thought Tom Woods, Ron Paul, Rand Paul, Glenn "Gunny", Stefan Molyneux, Adam Kokesh, Dennis Kucinich, & Ben Swann could lead an entire liberty network. It would hit most of the esoteric faucets of our philosophy while retaining top-notch talent.

Integrity is becoming everything. Our economy is going to be the valley of the blind and people will latch to whoever is left standing that has a shred of credibility.

[TaftFan]

Upvote on reddit:

http://www.reddit.com/r/Libertarian/comments/1g1glo/ben_swann_truth_in_media_project_kickstarter/
http://www.reddit.com/r/ronpaul/comments/1g12tx/ben_swann_media_funding_now_up_and_running/

[HOLLYWOOD]

Interview Snowden... he'll rake in millions

[TaftFan]

Interview Snowden... he'll rake in millions

Damn good idea!

[TaftFan]

So, how do we get Ron Paul to post this on his Facebook page?

[dannno]

Ben can do it! If anyone can, he can. There will be a lesson to learn here to for all the sloth-like neckbeards.

Ben is a slick looking guy and will be an attractive suit to help in the female demographic. He is extremely smart and dedicated, getting his masters at 16 which will impress most guys and nerds.

I have always thought Tom Woods, Ron Paul, Rand Paul, Glenn "Gunny", Stefan Molyneux, Adam Kokesh, Dennis Kucinich, & Ben Swann could lead an entire liberty network. It would hit most of the esoteric faucets of our philosophy while retaining top-notch talent.

Integrity is becoming everything. Our economy is going to be the valley of the blind and people will latch to whoever is left standing that has a shred of credibility.

What about Peter Schiff?

[Warlord]

Schiff is great. He's seriously underestimated in terms of how many people he's woke up.

http://i3.ytimg.com/vi/jj8rMwdQf6k/mqdefault.jpg

Ben though will help bring liberty to younger audiences. Kind of like AJ does but obviously totally different style

[FSP-Rebel]

Can non-citizens donate too?

[Steve-in-NY]

Sure I dont see why not

[TheGrinch]

Donated what I could, and more when the next checks come in.

Cmon folks, just shy of $50,000. A long way to go, but this group can raise funds in a hurry. I can't think of many more worthy than Ben, the last true investigative journalist in the mainstream media.

[TheGrinch]

Even more reason: This project will only be funded if at least $1,250,000 is pledged by Friday Jul 26, 12:00am EDT.

Let's help with some +rep to any donations posted here.

I don't even care if you're lying (that's for you and your conscience), so long as it helps bump this thread to reach others.

[sluggo]

Somebody call Peter Thiel....

[Occam's Banana]

Cmon folks, just shy of $50,000.

Damn! I could swear it was only a thousand-something last time I looked.

I'm afraid $1.25 million might be overreaching, but if this keeps up, maybe not ... :D

[asurfaholic]

ill donate on pay day what I can afford to give. Its for a dang good cause

[TheGrinch]

Damn! I could swear it was only a thousand-something last time I looked.

I'm afraid $1.25 million might be overreaching, but if this keeps up, maybe not ... :D

$3,000 in the hour since I donated, and it hasn't even really been hyped yet.

Though I'm a little concerned too, if he averages $50,000 a day (will be more today, but you know how these things tend to die off at the end), that would take 25 days. He's trying to do it in 16, so might be time to set up a money bomb or something to get the momentum going. (Edit: nevermind, July 26th, so he still has 45 days)

Really wish it wasn't one of those things with a deadline, and a chance that the money might get returned if the goal isn't met, but that just means we need to push.

[torchbearer]

ill donate on pay day what I can afford to give. Its for a dang good cause

kickstarter works on pledges, the pledges don't actually get charged and donated until the goal is met and the kickstarter ends.
if the 1.25 million goal isn't made, the project fails- no pledges are charged.
this needs to be known to people.
you don't have to wait for payday, and if the project goal isn't met, there is no charge.

[jim49er]

kickstarter works on pledges, the pledges don't actually get charged and donated until the goal is met and the kickstarter ends.
if the 1.25 million goal isn't made, the project fails- no pledges are charged.
this needs to be known to people.
you don't have to wait for payday, and if the project goal isn't met, there is no charge.

Thanks I didn't know that.

[dannno]

$35 is all it takes to get free digital downloads of all the episodes if the project goes through.

[torchbearer]

Thanks I didn't know that.

i wish i could that post of mine in every kickstarter thread for Ben.
but then, i'd feel like i was spamming.

[kcchiefs6465]

i wish i could that post of mine in every kickstarter thread for Ben.
but then, i'd feel like i was spamming.
Do it..

People on twitter or reddit need to know that too.

[ItsTime]

We can do it. I am going to drop $500. We need this project more than ever.

The liberty movement has been asking for this for years, this is our chance. Do not let this point in history pass us by.

[ItsTime]

i wish i could that post of mine in every kickstarter thread for Ben.
but then, i'd feel like i was spamming.

Go ahead and hit Ben's pages and event page. It should be said.

[kcchiefs6465]

Plus reps.. let's get the remainder each time someone pledges.

[VoluntaryAmerican]

I'm probably going to give $100. I'll see after Ben does his pitch.

[torchbearer]

Go ahead and hit Ben's pages and event page. It should be said.

i'm not on his pages, i'm not on any social media outside of twitter.
would you be willing to repost my post on those pages?
or at least, let me know where those pages are located?

[VoluntaryAmerican]

Interview Snowden... he'll rake in millions

Good luck finding him... you really think he was in HK?

[TaftFan]

Good luck finding him... you really think he was in HK?

Greenwald apparently went there.

[VoluntaryAmerican]

Greenwald apparently went there.

I'm not sure if I believe that. But if he was in Hong Kong, he isn't any longer.

[torchbearer]

Greenwald apparently went there.

the interview could have been done a month ago.
greenwald got the green light to go with it after enough scandals had broken, making it a perfect storm.
this would give time for snowden to relocate to places where the CIA isn't.... which he had info on...
why would he stay down the street from their depot?
mentioning it in the video would be great for trolling the local agents.

[VoluntaryAmerican]

the interview could have been done a month ago.
greenwald got the green light to go with it after enough scandals had broken, making it a perfect storm.
this would give time for snowden to relocate to places where the CIA isn't.... which he had info on...
why would he stay down the street from their depot?
mentioning it in the video would be great for trolling the local agents.

Yes, exactly. Snowden had a great sense of timing doing this now with the IRS scandal.

And he chose Greenwald because he knows Greenwald is an ideologue and believes what he writes.

[Nirvikalpa]

http://i.imgur.com/QUxO7PY.png

[VoluntaryAmerican]

http://i.imgur.com/QUxO7PY.png

Expensive T-Shirt!!! :p

[ItsTime]

http://i.imgur.com/QUxO7PY.png


#LibertyIsRising

[TheGrinch]

Bump. Kicking some ass right now, up almost $14,000 in 3 hours. Still +repping donations, so let's keep them coming.

[Occam's Banana]

I would highly suggest creating a donation thread where people post proof of their donations, with a running total in the OP. Kind of like what we did back during the moneybombs. I think we can do better than $5k.

DONE: http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?417364-Liberty-Is-Rising-Truth-in-Media-project-pledges-thread

(http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?417364-Liberty-Is-Rising-Truth-in-Media-project-pledges-thread)Post your pledges in the linked thread, and we'll have one place to keep a running total (and any +repping ...)

I've already included all the pledges from this thread up to this point.

[rprprs]

http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/mm139/rprprs/ks_zps87aa7b2f.jpg

[FSP-Rebel]

Sent in the equivalent of a few of these
http://i41.tinypic.com/2wfmf5j.jpg

[Bastiat's The Law]

We can do it. I am going to drop $500. We need this project more than ever.

The liberty movement has been asking for this for years, this is our chance. Do not let this point in history pass us by.
I couldn't agree more. Might be the best investment we ever made. If Ben highlights worthy liberty candidates to larger audiences this will pay back a thousand fold. Every dollar donated now, it worth a hundred times that in the future, maybe even more!

[PaulConventionWV]

$3,000 in the hour since I donated, and it hasn't even really been hyped yet.

Though I'm a little concerned too, if he averages $50,000 a day (will be more today, but you know how these things tend to die off at the end), that would take 25 days. He's trying to do it in 16, so might be time to set up a money bomb or something to get the momentum going. (Edit: nevermind, July 26th, so he still has 45 days)

Really wish it wasn't one of those things with a deadline, and a chance that the money might get returned if the goal isn't met, but that just means we need to push.

Apparently some people still don't know how this works.

YOU DO NOT PAY ANYTHING IF THE FULL AMOUNT IS NOT RAISED!

Remember: This is a pledge, not a donation. If the funds are not raised, you lose nothing, so you only pay for it if this thing is actually going to happen. The deadline, however, is still in place, but it looks well within reach, so keep pushing!

[mport1]

Please share this everywhere you can, frequently. We must meet the goal.

Let's prove that the liberty movement didn't end with Ron Paul

[KerriAnn]

When I went to make my pledge, Amazon Payments is asking me to update my "amazon payments" account with my social?! What the hell? I can't pledge unless I provide them with it! It won't go through!

Did anyone else have to do this?

[PaulConventionWV]

Bump.

[torchbearer]

When I went to make my pledge, Amazon Payments is asking me to update my "amazon payments" account with my social?! What the hell? I can't pledge unless I provide them with it! It won't go through!

Did anyone else have to do this?


did not encounter that request.

[PaulConventionWV]

Can someone make a graph of this? Over 45 days we might be able to see a trend develop for certain days of the week, which could help us determine which days the money bombs should be on in 2016.

[ItsTime]

When I went to make my pledge, Amazon Payments is asking me to update my "amazon payments" account with my social?! What the hell? I can't pledge unless I provide them with it! It won't go through!

Did anyone else have to do this?

Are you the same person who posted this in the Facebook event? That is the only other person I have heard that has been asked this.

[Occam's Banana]

When I went to make my pledge, Amazon Payments is asking me to update my "amazon payments" account with my social?! What the hell? I can't pledge unless I provide them with it! It won't go through!

Did anyone else have to do this?

That's strange. That didn't happen for me, either.

For me, the Amazon part just asked for my regular Amazon login, payment method & billing address confirmation.

[sluggo]

Ben Swann was the guest on Peter Schiff's radio show today.

http://schiffradio.com/

Schiff can be a horrible interviewer, lol.

[TheGrinch]

Wow, up to $95,000. Just when I start to lose my faith in our resolve to look past our differences and do what's right, you all show what we're capable of when we work together.

Let's keep it going folks. The $1.25 million goal doesn't seem so far-fetched anymore.

[KerriAnn]

Are you the same person who posted this in the Facebook event? That is the only other person I have heard that has been asked this.
Yeah, that's me... I don't understand why I'm the only one who has to do this. I tried again just now.

I swear I know what I'm doing. People are assuming I am on some sort of phishing page, but I know I'm not. I am going directly to the kickstarter page from the link here on the forums.

This is bullshit. Am I some sort of test subject for Amazon? I really want to donate to this project, but I am not going to give my social to Amazon!

[TaftFan]

Interview Snowden... he'll rake in millions

He told me on FB he is praying for the chance to do so!

[kcchiefs6465]

//

[TaftFan]

Donations stagnated big time. Not sure it will make it unless Ron Paul calls for a moneybomb.

[ItsTime]

Donations stagnated big time. Not sure it will make it unless Ron Paul calls for a moneybomb.

That would be great if Ron Paul did. Kickstarter is more like a 12 round fight than a sprint. Pledges come in waves.

[Bastiat's The Law]

Wow, up to $95,000. Just when I start to lose my faith in our resolve to look past our differences and do what's right, you all show what we're capable of when we work together.

Let's keep it going folks. The $1.25 million goal doesn't seem so far-fetched anymore.
I think it's pretty amazing. I wish we could tap into that enthusiasm with liberty candidates like Greg Brannon. If Brannon raised 95k it would all but assure his primary victory.

[Bastiat's The Law]

Ben Swann was the guest on Peter Schiff's radio show today.

http://schiffradio.com/

Schiff can be a horrible interviewer, lol.

Schiff was brutal on poor Ben, sheesh. Did anyone sense a little jealousy in Peter's voice? I think Peter is perturbed his campaign didn't have the same kind of steam behind it.

[TaftFan]

Schiff was brutal on poor Ben, sheesh. Did anyone sense a little jealousy in Peter's voice? I think Peter is perturbed his campaign didn't have the same kind of steam behind it.

I thought he had a good point about raising the bar too high.

Right now we are technically on pace to just fund it, but these things really taper off as they go on.

[TheGrinch]

Cmon people, it's way too early for us to be slowing down like this. If you want to keep the momentum going, show that this goal is reachable!

Fuck it, I'll go ahead and change my $35 to $100 and make sure I save the money by July 26th when it comes due, if it will help light a fire to get you all to donate to this worthy cause.

Seriously, I know there are plenty of you who can find something to cut out to save it up for that date, but you don't have to wait until then to make your pledge, you just have to have the funds ready for when it ends and (hopefully) collects when we make goal.

(ETA:

Your pledge has been successfully changed for:
Liberty is Rising Truth in Media Project
Liberty is Rising Truth in Media Project
by Ben Swann

New Pledge Summary
Amount pledged

$100.00
Reward

Your name featured in the credits as an "Individual Liberty Sponsor" for one episode of "Ben Swann Full Disclosure". Also, receive a Limited Edition "Liberty is Rising" T-shirt, a Limited Edition 8.5" x 11" Personalized "Ben Swann Full Disclosure" Print, a "Liberty is Rising" Bumper Sticker and a Personalized Facebook Cover Photo thanking you for your contribution to the "Liberty is Rising" Truth in Media Project.
Estimated delivery

Aug 2013
Shipping

Within the US

[Bastiat's The Law]

I thought he had a good point about raising the bar too high.

Right now we are technically on pace to just fund it, but these things really taper off as they go on.
But they also pick up as we get over certain barriers. I think it will pick up if we get close to the million mark.

[kcchiefs6465]

Schiff was brutal on poor Ben, sheesh. Did anyone sense a little jealousy in Peter's voice? I think Peter is perturbed his campaign didn't have the same kind of steam behind it.
That interview annoyed me. I don't know what his damn problem was.

[jim49er]

bump

[matt0611]

bump. Just donated $10

[fearthereaperx]

Kickstarter takes 5% In fees? And Amazon takes another 5%?? Why so much?

[FrankRep]

Bump. Lets get this funded.

[LibertyEagle]

That interview annoyed me. I don't know what his damn problem was.

Schiff is just jealous. He is extremely self-absorbed. No one is perfect. lol

[evilfunnystuff]

Not sure Ben would want to do it, but but he would probably get a huge boost he did an interview with Alex Jones.

Alex would probably love to have him on, Ben has done some great work.

[fearthereaperx]

Not sure Ben would want to do it, but but he would probably get a huge boost he did an interview with Alex Jones.

Alex would probably love to have him on, Ben has done some great work.

He's already been on ALex Jones and most likely will be back again

[fearthereaperx]

Schiff is just jealous. He is extremely self-absorbed. No one is perfect. lol

He does appear bitter and cynical, but he is making good objective observations at the same time.

[FrankRep]

2,056
Backers

$141,535
pledged of $1,250,000 goal

39
days to go

[muh_roads]

Kickstarter takes 5% In fees? And Amazon takes another 5%?? Why so much?

If Ben accepted Bitcoins directly instead of through Amazon it would be 100% pure profit.


2,056
Backers

$141,535
pledged of $1,250,000 goal

39
days to go

I don't think Ben isn't going to make it. He needs to make about $29K per day and that hasn't been happening anymore.

[matt0611]

We need to have a money bomb day maybe?

[FSP-Rebel]

We need to have a money bomb day maybe?
Seems to me that the core of Swann fans have already made their pledges and we're having trouble building on that. Swann and his efforts seem to be widely known by those of us here and on the Daily Paul but perhaps not so much by the broader liberty movement and this is where Ron needs to step up (send email blasts which I'd think at some point he'd do) to make this happen. I'd like to think that people would be shelling money at this thing in hopes of developing better media for our bunch. Ask how much we as individuals value getting something like this going as an alt to corporate media and then that's the amount of scratch one needs to pledge if in fact this has any value at all. Anyone can bitch and complain but it's mobilization on a front like this that is one of the many cogs to building the liberty movement and Ben is the guy to get behind.