I've always noticed that places like Democracy Now talk about democracy and stuff all the time, and they really go out of their way to say they don't get money from ads or the government. I think they do this because they actually want to stay independent and not have to worry about making powerful people or companies mad.

Like, if you're getting paid by big advertisers or the government itself, you might be scared to talk about stuff that could get you in trouble with them. That'd be super awkward, especially if you're trying to report about someone rich or a politician messing up. Democracy Now basically says: "We don't want their money, so we can say what needs to be said."

I think it's kind of cool, honestly. It means I can at least hope their news isn't just what some company wants me to hear. Plus, they seem to care a lot about the rights to protest and call out leaders if they're hurting our democracy. I've learned from watching that real democracy needs people saying what's up, even if it's uncomfortable, or else the government might get away with sketchy stuff. Feels like we'd all be way more in the dark if every news site just did what advertisers wanted.