Self-Reliance Is the Tie That Binds, Part 2

Reader Contribution by Bryan Welch
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Defying Definition

Pundits and politicians tend to group people demographically, economically, geographically, or sometimes based on one or two opinions. Ask a political consultant about any group of people and you’re likely to get a quick, simple description of that group’s interests, opinions and passions. People defined as “liberals,” for instance, are supposed to be interested in protecting the environment. “Conservatives” — as defined by television pundits and political hacks — are not.

So how do we explain the diversity of the MOTHER EARTH NEWS audience? Since 2003, most of our major editorial decisions have been guided by your opinions, collected through our email surveys. Without the research we’ve been doing, we might have relied on our instincts, which could have led us astray and prevented us from reaching the broad audience we now enjoy.

But with the surveys guiding us, we’ve let you take us in some unexpected directions. We used to feature people on our covers. You told us you preferred to see vegetables and farmhouses. We used to refer to our readers as “environmentalists.” Now we know many of you don’t see yourselves that way. You prefer to be characterized as “conscientious.” Or maybe you just prefer not to be characterized at all — which is fine with us.

  • Published on Feb 10, 2014
Tagged with: Reader Contributions
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