Wow. I'm incredibly grateful that so many are willing to donate. One contributor, a gentleman I'll call "currencia," has offered to match, dollar for dollar, any donations that come in between now and 5 p.m. on Dec. 24. (Up to $1,000.) Since Currencia made his offer, $210 has come in.
Thank you all. We're way further ahead at this point than last time, where it took *five months* to get to more than $2,000. This time, we've reached that point in less than three weeks. With the amount donated, plus my own savings, I'll be able to get a bullet-proof vest (about $1,000), Arabic lessons and other logistic expenses, such as plane tickets, visas, deposits, etc.
Thank you so much, everyone. Your support, especially at this time of year, really means a lot. Happy holidays.
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About me
Hi there! Thanks for stopping in. I'm Christopher Allbritton, former AP and New York Daily News reporter. In 2002, I went stumbling around Iraqi Kurdistan, the northern part of Iraq outside Saddam's direct control, looking for stories. (Some might call it "looking for trouble.") In March 2003, I made it back in time for the war, becoming the Web's first fully reader-funded journalist-blogger. With the support of thousands of readers, we raised almost $15,000. You can read my dispatches here. It was one of the moments in journalism when everything worked. It was a grand -- and successful -- experiment in independent journalism. In 2004, I moved to Iraq, where I would spend the next two years. It was a raucous, scary and exciting place with a lot of news going on. But I've since moved on to Beirut and the wider region. I now report for a variety of outlets.
