Dear TOL reader:

Quality content costs money to produce--even on the Internet. TOL is striving to continuously bring you quality content at the minimum possible cost. Since our founding in 1999, we've been committed to covering Central and Eastern Europe, the Balkans, and the former Soviet Union with a special eye for the under-reported stories in the region and the local angle missing from most news reports. Just as importantly, we've also been committed to escaping the grant-dependency that has plagued so many promising independent media projects and NGOs. We're convinced that only by striving for self-sustainability, and reducing our reliance on grants, can we ensure that TOL will continue to bring you the same award-winning news coverage you deserve, far into the future.

This ambition has prompted us to place an increasingly greater emphasis on earning our own revenue to pay our correspondents and staff, thereby allowing us to continue our outstanding coverage and to provide the crucial journalism training that we offer to young reporters throughout the post-communist region. Our launch of a "premium content" section -- where you will find, at the same very reasonable subscription price, some of the best TOL writing every week -- is part of that general effort to forge a sustainable business model that will not only ensure the continuation of our current level of quality coverage but also serve as a blueprint for other like-minded, independent, Internet media.

We do hope that you consider a paid subscription, which will bring you access to our premium content, the country annual surveys, as well as to one of the largest archives in the world on all 28 of the post-communist countries of the region. Please see our subscription page for details and rates.

Thank you for your interest and support,

Jeremy Druker
Director and Editor in Chief