Grant $5000 to DAO Times for the Commission of Unbiased Reporting on Aragon DAO - 50 articles over one year

Aragon DAO
1

Abstract:

We are applying for $5,000 funding to compensate a reporter who will deeply research the Aragon community. This reporter will report for DAO Times on all major Aragon updates, events, proposals, grants, and discussions over the course of one year. In total, he will publish 50 articles on the Aragon DAO.

Motivation:

We perceive a gap in the coverage of DAOs, including Aragon DAO. By funding a dedicated reporter, we can provide in-depth, consistent reporting on Aragon, attracting new members and keeping current members informed and engaged.

This proposal aligns with the mission of Aragon DAO by promoting transparency and increasing community engagement. By providing regular updates about the DAO, we aim to foster a better-informed and more active comWe believe in the potential of DAOs to transform the world, and we’re committed to exploring this potential through our reporting. Our selfish goal is to delve deep into DAOs, to study them and to describe our observations transparently. However, to maintain our comprehensive coverage, we need to compensate our reporters adequately, which we currently can’t do due to our non-profit status. You won’t see a single banner ad or pop-up that will prevent the audience from reading the content.

I personally committed almost all my savings to building DAO Times. Even my family and friends call me a fool, but I believe in what I do. I believe that initiatives like DAO Times are making the world a better place. So I am asking you to help us with a grant donation to pay the reporter for a year of work. We guarantee that he will deeply research the Aragon DAO and publish 50 unbiased articles about the DAO.

Why might you want to do this? Because it’s important for a DAO to get the press to write about it regularly. That way the DAO gets more exposure, influence and attracts new contributors.

The size of this grant is very small compared to any similar proposal. Because the team is not looking for profit here.

Importantly, receiving this grant won’t compromise our editorial independence. Our coverage will remain objective and uninfluenced by the source of funding.

To summarize, we see this as a win-win opportunity for both of us, and for the DAO community. We get to do what we love while diving deeper into learning about the DAO industry. We attract new builders to the DAO niche and promote decentralization in general which is our mission. You get more publicity, which in any case certainly benefits your whole community. You also get an independent perspective on your DAO, which will help you take a bird’s eye view and become a better DAO.

Our proposal is about more than just funding — it’s about fostering a healthy, transparent, and diverse discourse around DAOs.

We hope you’ll consider supporting our initiative.

Stats
An average article on the website gets around 100 views with the top one reaching almost 4000 views. Our Twitter has 4100 followers and an average article gets around 500 impressions, with the top one reaching almost 30000 impressions. Our newsletter has 380 subscribers, with 79% of them engaged in the last 30 days. These are not big numbers, but we are growing, and our audience consists solely of DAO builders.

Personnel:

Founder - Makoto Takahiro

News Reporter - Saudu Clement

Technical Writer - Jyotirmoy Barman

DAO Advisor - Edward Moon

Platforms:

https://daotimes.com

https://twitter.com/dao_times

Some of our articles about Aragon:

https://daotimes.com/aragon-partners-with-ukrainian-university-to-promote-decentralized-governance/

https://daotimes.com/aragon-launches-a-new-tech-stack-for-daos/

Steps to Implement:

  • Develop an editorial calendar outlining the topics and timeline for the 50 articles.
  • The reporter begins researching and writing the articles.
  • Review, edit, and publish the articles on DAO Times.
  • Promote each article on DAO Times’ Twitter profile.
  • Encourage community members to provide suggestions for improvements or ideas for future reporting.

Timeline:

The project will commence immediately upon receiving approval and funding, and will run for a period of one year.

Overall Cost:

$5,000 to compensate the reporter.

Why we created DAO Times:

DAO Times is a response to the growing need for an inclusive platform within the decentralized organizations landscape. In the existing crypto media, sensationalist news often obscures significant developments in the DAO ecosystem, while smaller outlets mostly recycle content from larger platforms. This lack of original and insightful coverage undervalues the efforts of dedicated DAO builders, stifling innovation and growth.

Our broader objective is to challenge the status quo and inspire people to embrace decentralization, thus creating democratic and collaborative communities, ultimately contributing to a more conscious and compassionate world.

Here are some testimonials from DAO builders and decentralization enthusiasts:

  • “I believe you’re bringing great value to your community members, educating and informing them about DAOs.” (Libertas Finance)
  • “I am very impressed. Your coverage of the DAO ecosystem is thorough, timely, well-researched, and fair.” (Frisson)
  • “Good job with this website you’re running. Keep the good work, and thanks for spending your time this way” (mazafaka.eth)
  • “We commend the work you are doing to push the Web3 industry forward. Keep up the great work” (Cindicator)
  • “Fascinated with the quality of content and every story around DAO shared” (Subham Surana)
  • The best content around DAOs that I’ve seen (Utkarsh|Schrodingrrr.eth)
  • “Your work in this space is already fantastic! Thank you for what you do” (Jawna.ETH)
  • “Love that you’re reporting what’s going on in various DAOs!”(Adventurous Ape)
  • “DAO times is one of my favorite media in the DAO ecosystem” (Kiyoaki)
  • “Love the work you are doing to build cool things in web3” (Accelchain)
  • “The concept of DAO Times looks really amazing!” (Nihar Thummar)
  • “I enjoy their coverage of DAO-related topics thus far.” (Stn)
  • “This a great work that you’re doing” (Gino Cingolani)
2

Why does this make sense when we have the Eagle who already have a 7figure budget?

1 Like
3

@orion Can we please be respectful of other members and their proposals? Please provide earnest feedback about the stated terms within the proposal at hand. If you can’t provide productive feedback, please opt not to respond. Thank you.

2 Likes
4

its a valid question isnt it? Why fund more when theres ample funding for this elsewhere.

Would appreciate a reply instead of denouncing

3 Likes
5

In my opinion, it appears that this report by DAO Times will provide a valuable and fresh perspective on Aragon, particularly due to their potential relatively unbiased standpoint and lesser vested interest in the project. This could potentially shed new light on various aspects of Aragon and offer insightful analysis.

2 Likes
6

Why does this make sense when we have the Eagle who already have a 7figure budget?

@Orion @AntHolder

We write for people interested in DAOs, which aligns perfectly with Aragon’s offerings of tools to launch and manage DAOs. Our coverage will make Aragon more visible to our audience, which could lead to new users, partnerships, and growth. This exposure will expand Aragon’s influence.

Plus, as an independent entity, we can provide fresh, unbiased insights about Aragon, shedding light on new aspects of Aragon. This fresh perspective can offer new insights that can benefit Aragon.

In short this proposal is a win-win situation for both of us - we can pay our reporter for deep, high-quality reporting, and Aragon gains visibility and growth.

1 Like
7

unbiased towards Aragon & Funded by Aragon. Does this not have a conflict of interest?

2 Likes
8

How was i being disrespectful? everything i said was factual. We already have a team who is supposed to be writing content - and if the argument is to have a different team do more because they will write unbiased content - well i cannot see how being funded by the people they write about would not be a conflict of interest

2 Likes
9

so do you plan on covering the lack of transparency going on? The insider trading? The lack of initiative? ect, wed like an unbiased approach

Respectfully more reporting at this time does not seem to benefit unless it shows the other side of the coin. The eagle seems to have the Aragon team pov. no need for more of the same. why double spend?

1 Like
10

I propose the following articles:

  • “The Wolf of Zug StraĂźe - how DAO teams make it through insider trading.”

  • “Our roadmap to fully decentralize the treasury in 2134.”

  • “Kim-Jong Un DAO found a way to avoid 51% attacks, token holders hate him!
    Click >>here<< to learn more.”

  • “RFV Raiders of the lost DAO.”

  • “Why you should vote yourself a salary increase.”

  • “The Eagles will play Hotel California in front of wANT holders at the Aragon DAO conference !”

  • “Aragon DAO doesn’t want to create value, Aragon DAO IS the value.”

3 Likes
11

Thanks for the proposal @DAOTimes; personally, rather than dedicated reports on Aragon would love to see you do some advertising. This would be a good use of $5000, and we would not have a set number of articles, allowing Aragon to reach more DAO targets.

Thanks for putting the proposal forward.

2 Likes
12

agreed - might be good to see DAO times reach and metrics

1 Like
13

Our selfish goal is to delve deep into DAOs, to study them and to describe our observations transparently. To do this we need to compensate reporters for their time, but we don’t have the budget for that because the project is non-profit, you won’t see a single banner ad or pop-up that will prevent the audience from reading the content. I personally committed almost all my savings to building DAO Times. Even my family and friends call me a fool, but I believe in what I do. I believe that initiatives like DAO Times are making the world a better place. So I am asking you to help us with a grant donation to pay the reporter for 120 days of work.

Why might you want to do this? Because it’s important for a DAO to get the press to write about it regularly. That way the DAO gets more exposure, influence and attracts new contributors.

The size of this grant is very small compared to any similar proposal. Because the team is not looking for profit here.

A grant does not compromise our editorial independence. The coverage will be objective and will not be influenced by the source of funding. Grants like these promote transparency, a fundamental principle of any DAO. Many reputable media outlets receive grants and it’s seen as a positive practice that helps in-depth reporting and exploration of complex issues. Many media platforms are owned by brands, but this doesn’t make them biased, for example Coindesk owned by Digital Currency Group openly reported on FTX situation leading it to FTX’s bankruptcy despite the fact that DCG has an investment in FTX and thus a vested interest.

To summarize, we see this as a win-win opportunity for both of us, and for the DAO community. We get to do what we love while diving deeper into learning about the DAO industry. We attract new builders to the DAO niche and promote decentralization in general which is our mission. You get more publicity, which in any case certainly benefits your whole community. You also get an independent perspective on your DAO, which will help you take a bird’s eye view and become a better DAO.

1 Like
14

so do you plan on covering the lack of transparency going on? The insider trading? The lack of initiative? ect, wed like an unbiased approach

This is what we want to do.

The eagle seems to have the Aragon team pov. no need for more of the same. why double spend?

We see value in multiple perspectives. DAO Times’ independent, in-depth focus on DAOs offers fresh insights that complement the Eagle’s coverage. Moreover, DAO Times could reach new or broader audiences, promoting Aragon’s growth. So, the additional expenditure isn’t redundancy, but an investment in diversity and reach

15

An average article on the website gets around 100 views with the top one reaching almost 4000 views. Our Twitter has 4100 followers and an average article gets around 500 impressions, with the top one reaching almost 30000 impressions. Our newsletter has 380 subscribers, with 79% of them engaged in the last 30 days. These are not big numbers, but we are growing, and our audience consists solely of DAO builders.

16

We can certainly create a separate proposal for advertising, but we’d prefer to avoid using banners or pop-ups. Do you have any other suggestions on how we could help you?

17

I don’t think it has to be pop-up banners, per say. It can be sponsored articles in the flow of DAO times that state that they are Affiliated content but do not break the flow of the page. There are certainly options other than banners.

An example (not a fan of the paper) from the Mail:

Screenshot 2023-06-13 at 09.36.20
Screenshot 2023-06-13 at 09.36.201330Ă—1498 268 KB

1 Like
18

We want to inform the community that we have updated our proposal in accordance with the overall feedback of the DAO contributors in the comments. We hope that this new version answers more questions and communicates clearly what we propose.

Also, we’ve updated our proposal time frame from 50 articles over 120 days to 50 articles in one year.

19

Your suggestion about sponsored content is a good one, and certainly something we can consider for another proposal. We appreciate this feedback and will take some time to reflect on how we might be able to incorporate this approach.