Guerrilla Journalism Fund

Welcome to the Guerrilla Journalism Fund, GNN’s experiment in crowdfunding reporting. In our first assignment, the GNN community donated almost $2000 to fund David Enders’ reporting from war-torn Lebanon. For our second assignment, we're helping freelance war correspondent David Axe report from Darfur. Here is his appeal:

After five years and 300,000 dead, the developed world is finally, belatedly, doing something about Darfur. This spring the European Union began deploying 4,000 peacekeepers to eastern Chad in order to protect refugees and aid workers. It’s a small first step towards stabilizing the region — and one fraught with danger. In January a French soldier was killed by Sudanese troops when his vehicle accidentally strayed into Sudanese territory. With famine and Khartoum’s political maneuvering only complicating the situation, it’s an open question whether the peacekeepers will make a difference.

I was in Somalia last winter, covering the Ethiopian occupation and the growing humanitarian crisis (now Africa’s worst). It was heartbreaking to see such suffering — and equally discouraging to know that most people in Europe and U.S. just didn’t care. I believe that vivid, courageous journalism, adequately resourced, can help change people’s attitudes. I’m headed to Darfur in June — and I need your help to pay for the travel and supplies. Together, we can shine a little light on Darfur, and on the embryonic international efforts to end the crisis.

I will be reporting for BBC Radio, The Washington Times and World Politics Review. I will blog as often as possible at GNN — and shoot video for a GNN exclusive to be posted after I return from Africa.

The total cost of the trip is around $5,000. I’m asking GNN readers to donate $2,000 to cover air fare, some lodging and some ground transportation. Thanks, everyone.

Bio: David Axe is a 30-year-old freelance war correspondent based in Washington, D.C., and the author of WAR FIX, a graphic novel war memoir, and ARMY 101: INSIDE ARMY ROTC IN A TIME OF WAR. Since 2005 David has reported from 14 of Iraq’s 18 provinces in addition to southern Afghanistan, East Timor, Lebanon and, most recently, Kenya and Somalia. He blogs at War Is Boring. His GNN blog can be found at http://davidaxe.gnn.tv.