Are we really happy with the Joplin Globe?

Try this list on for size:

-The SEC investigation, lawsuits, accusations of fraud and pyramid schemes and multiple bankruptcies of the city of Joplin's master developer Wallace-Bajjali

-The attempt by the leaders of the Joplin Progress Committee to derail the Loraine Investigation

-A Joplin R-8 technology employee had pornographic photos of 10 Joplin High School girls on his laptop, the same employee whose job included monitoring student laptops

-The Joplin Globe did not bother to inform its own readers after Mark Rohr's firing that the same circus of accusations and behavior were practiced by him in every town- something the Globe had printed 10 years earlier, but kept from readers this time.

-Joplin R-8 Administration was already planning a tax levy increase proposal less than six months after voters approved the largest bond issue in the school district's history.

-Accusations, eventually leading to charges, that Joplin businesswoman Amy Jones has bilked customers.

-Commentary that does not shy away from sacred cows

-Reporting on the incredible amount of meals campaign contributors have bought for Seventh District Congressman Billy Long.

-First to report on the DWI charges against two local board of education members

That's probably a long enough list. Those are just a small sampling of the posts that have run on the Turner Report or my other blogs since I was removed from the classroom one year ago today. It is also a sample of things that simply have been ignored by Editor Carol Stark and the area's newspaper of record.

I usually prefer to let my work speak for itself, but this is pledge week for the Turner Report family of blogs. For the past year, I have generally worked 10 to 12 hours a day, often more, writing and researching for this unusual news operation.

It's not that I am new to this. After being a newspaper reporter and editor for 22 years, I have written the Turner Report for the last 11. When the Joplin Globe infamously stopped investigating Missouri Southern and made a deal with Bruce Speck,who had already muzzled the Chart, I continued to write about the situation at the university. It was the Turner Report that broke the story of Joplin businesswoman Jessica Newton's arrest.

And at this point, the Turner Report is a one-man operation. If I am to continue at this pace, and if I am ever to get the opportunity to expand and maybe eventually hire more reporters and extend coverage, I need to ask for some money, as uncomfortable as I am in doing that, especially since it will bring out the critics, who have been ripping me for years (but still manage to read everything I write).

With the role the Joplin Globe has played in recent events in this city and area, it is more important now than it ever has been for Joplin to have an alternate news source.

The Turner Report, Inside Joplin, and the other blogs are that alternate news source. This cannot be done without your help. I am not going to set up any paywalls like the Globe. My blogs will stay open and available to the public. I am asking that you join those who have already taken voluntary subscriptions to the Turner Report and Inside Joplin. For the next several days, I will place a subscription button beneath some of my posts. This will allow you to subscribe using either PayPal or a credit card. If you are uncomfortable paying online, you can send a check to me at Randy Turner, 2306 E. 8th, Apt. G, Joplin, MO 64801.

Thank you for your time and consideration.