CounterStory
Media
FAQ
We Share stories that rock the boat. Stories that foster empathy.
Stories that change
the world.
Hi Friend!
Thanks for coming by. I'd like to tell you more about my passion project.
My name is Melissa Corrigan. I am a writer, podcaster, and editor of several publications. When I began writing on Medium.com, I started getting tons of comments and even private emails and messages. The message was overwhelmingly the same:
"Oh my gosh, me too! This happened to me!"
My readers gushed their relief at knowing they weren't alone, feeling seen, and feeling the courage to take the first steps to telling their stories.
So I decided to create publications to gather those writers and publish their stories, once they were ready to tell them.
Now we are telling our stories. Not only are we doing this to spread awareness of the harmful nature of the institution of adoption as it is currently practiced throughout most of the United States, we are doing this to change policy, legislation, and law so that future children don't have to endure what we did.
Our advocacy is working! Multiple states have overturned birth certificate restrictions so that adoptees can finally take possession of their own original birth certificate, telling them their name, the date and hour of their birth, how much they weighed... all of the little pieces of our identity that we never knew.
Likewise, veterans have been, and are being, used by politicians and special interest groups to virtue signal 'patriotism' and 'love for the troops' while actively proposing and passing legislation that harms that very community. Additionally, politicians will vote for a war to which they will never send their own children, sending the nation's poor youth to fight their battles all over the globe, leaving them with devastating injuries, PTSD, and trauma, and that's if they even return alive.
CounterStory Media is is dedicated to giving a voice to those often overlooked. Through our publications and podcasts, we provide a platform for adoptees, military veterans, survivors of personal violence, those in recovery, those exploring their theology after being harmed by religious groups- survivors of all manner- to share their unique experiences.
By amplifying these stories, we challenge existing narratives and work towards a more equitable and inclusive society where everyone's perspective is valued, and for those readers who have walked in those shoes, our stories bring hope.
We bring healing.
We bring relief, we cut shackles of shame, and we empower you to tell your story, too. So that all of our stories will rise up in a swell, forcing the powers-that-be to look at the ugliness that bad policy, bad legislation, bad and antiquated institutions has created so that they may make more informed and nuanced decisions going forward.
We can rewrite the narrative. With our tears, truth. With our pain, progress.
With our stories, we ignite humanity.
And I'm glad you're aboard.
DID YOU KNOW...
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... the odds of a reported suicide attempt were ∼4 times greater in adoptees compared with nonadoptees?
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... 64% of US military veterans reported that they did not have enough money to make ends meet at some point in the past 12 months?
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... domestic violence leads to a substantial number of lost workdays each year, causing challenges for coworkers and productivity losses for employers, not to mention direct financial and career impact for the victim?
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... about 40 million Americans have left churches and other religious institutions in the last 25 years?
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... the suicide rate has risen by 16% from 2011 to 2022, moving from 12.3 to 14.4 deaths per 100,000 individuals. Looking back further to 1999, there is a substantial 37% increase from a rate of 10.57 per 100,000.
Do you know why you didn't know a lot of these facts? Because they counter a narrative that someone wants to sell.
CounterStory Media elevates the voices of the people living these statistics to counter those narratives, and along the way, to foster empathy and awareness and to inform the national discourse on the issues presented.
join the team
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Melissa Corrigan
Founder, Content Curation Director,
Editor, Author, Podcaster
Melissa is an adoptee, a veteran, a mother, an ally, an advocate, and a wordsmith. She is passionate about forging community connections and uplifting the voices of the 'little guy.'
contributors
wanted!
Writers, Podcaster, Artists, Poets, and Content Creators
If you are creating content in alignment with our mission, we want to amplify your work! We will cross-post, social share, and share your content far and wide. If you are a writer on Medium, we'll publish your work in the most fitting of our publications. We will also share your work, in your voice or ours, on one of our podcasts.
If you are looking to get started, we can help you set up accounts on various platforms with guided tutorials.
If you're new to writing, we can help you with one of our guided workshops: Intro to Memoir; A Radical Self-Care Journey and Intro to Writing on Medium: Sharing Your First Story.
curators wanted!
Editors, Publishers, Allies, Advocates, Fans, Subscribers
Do you have a favorite content creator that you think would be in perfect alignment with our mission?
You can recommend them.
If you've got a lot of creators that you follow or know, consider volunteering as a CounterStory Content Curator. You will be assigned a topic and will compile bundles of recommendations that you can pass on to the Content Curation Director for final approval.
The more eyes we have on the content being created in these topics, the more content we're going to find to amplify! The more content we find to amplify, the more eyes on all of the content.
We all rise... together!
Editors wanted!
Accept, edit, and publish pieces on one of our Medium publications.
Are you already writing on Medium or planning to get into it? We need volunteer co-editors for all of our Medium publications. You'll be reviewing submissions, determining whether or not they are appropriate and in alignment for the mission of the publication, supporting the writer with light editing and publication-standard formatting, and publishing work.
reporters wanted!
Pen articles covering the stories that need to be heard.
Do you see positive stories playing out around you or know someone or multiple people who have overcome tremendous odds but don't have the time or ability to write their own story? Do you like interviewing people?
Are you experienced presenting nonbiased coverage?
Consider volunteering as a CounterStory Media reporter. Go out and interview those amazing people and let's tell their stories!
- The Light at the Other Side
- adoptere
- served
- Deconstructing Dogma
- Does She Shut Up?!
- Melissa corrigan
Community Alliances
- Pink Hair & Pronouns
- trans life anthology