Party central committees, partisan special interests, and courts overseen by party-appointed judges have steadily reframed election law in such a way that the failure to affiliate with one of the two institutionalized political parties voids an individual’s ability to have meaningful participation in the political process. As a result, legislators are held accountable only by their partisan base.

The partisan consolidation of power has accelerated rapidly over the past 75 years. Attempts to change our election laws and inform voters will not alone stop the polarization of our political system. Even traditional media has reorganized the dialogue around a superficial two-sided debate and accepted the notion that a virtual pre-requisite for full voter participation is party affiliation.

The Treatment: Civil Discourse

To change the political process, we have to start with the political dialogue.IVN.us was established to promote such a change. The goal is to create a news source where the news is unfiltered by partisan interests. In short, IVN.us is an online news platform for communication between independent-minded voters, public officials, civic leaders, and journalists.

The news network was BETA tested at the end of 2011, and Phase 1 was officially launched in January 2012. Today, IVN reaches over a million people online each week. Now, we are bringing IVN to the local level.

The Technology: Localization

On October 17th, 2012, IVN launched the first local prototype in its hometown: IVN San Diego Edition. In the old days, starting a news outlet was out of the question; unless you were a billionaire. IVN has taken today’s technology and created a platform that is more powerful, more dynamic, and more open to credible journalists than anything ever built. We will bring this technology to other cities that share a common desire for good and diverse journalism. And it won’t take a billionaire to get us there. Just you.

The Risk: Abuse

The biggest risk of an open platform is abuse of its capabilities. The biggest challenge is maintaining credibility amid forces that will see IVN as competition and who don’t hold themselves to the IVN etiquette. We are qualified to overcome these challenges because we have gotten this far with a couple computers and some big hearts. We will overcome these risks and challenges with the support of people like you will.

The Protection: Etiquette

IVN’s reputation, credibility, and status as a news source are preserved through its adherence to a published etiquette and editorial guideline. These guidelines ensure that both contributors and readers benefit from robust and diverse content in a civil environment.

1. No personal attacks. 2. No self-promotion. 3. Sources must be substantiated.4. No partisan-based attacks.

Please join us by making a pledge to IVN so that we can elevate the level of civil discourse and break down the barriers to participation in both news and politics.

And if you haven't already, please follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Google+ if we haven't asked enough of you already.

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