About This Journal
The Colombian Amazon Journal is independent field journalism from inside the Colombian Amazon — not reporting about the territory from the outside, but from years of relationship with the people who live and work there.
This is not a charity, and the communities we work with are not beneficiaries. They are partners: leaders, artisans, guides, knowledge holders, and custodians of territories they have governed for thousands of years. What they need from the outside world isn’t rescue. It’s recognition, fair exchange, and partners who treat them as equals.
Free Reader — Field notes, mission essays, Amazon education, and selected community stories, always free. The mission is to raise consciousness, and that can’t happen behind a paywall.
Journal Member ($10/mo or $100/yr) — Full field reports, the monthly Amazon Field Ledger, long-form interviews, and the complete archive. A paid publishing membership that sustains independent reporting — not a donation.
Mission Partner ($300/yr) — Helps carry a greater share of the real cost of field relationships, mission preparation, transportation, and reporting. Mission Partners may occasionally be privately informed of specific, community-requested needs available for separate sponsorship. Membership finances useful work. It does not purchase access to a community, a private visit, or influence over how a mission is run.
Some of the territories this Journal covers are affected by armed groups, illegal economies, and unstable security conditions. We’re transparent with sponsors, discreet in the field, and protective of the communities we work with. Some operational details will never be made public: that’s a feature of doing this responsibly, not a lack of accountability.
Pseudonymous and institutional bylines
Colombian Amazon Journal may publish certain reporting and analysis under pseudonyms or institutional bylines when public identification could expose writers, sources, Indigenous partners, or local communities to retaliation or unnecessary risk. The editors know the identity of every contributor and apply the same standards of documentation, verification, sourcing, fairness, corrections, and accountability to pseudonymous work as to named work. Institutional bylines may also be used where reporting reflects the work of multiple contributors or the collective findings of the publication. Pseudonyms and institutional bylines are never used to fabricate qualifications, affiliations, ancestry, access, or lived experience.
To learn more about the tech platform that powers this publication, visit Substack.com.
