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1/ Yesterday, I did one of my drives for low-income students via @DonorsChoose. Today, I'm raising money for @MotherJones and talking about funding journalism more broadly. Donations up to $500,000 will be matched. This is a bfd moment for us: motherjones.com/themoment/
@DonorsChoose @MotherJones 2/ You know that journalism is suffering a revenue crisis. Most ad models are falling apart. The hedge funds are ravaging local news. There have been massive job losses, and with them democracy suffers. We need more spotlights on the powerful, not fewer.
@DonorsChoose @MotherJones 3/ Papers and magazines have been experimenting with all kinds of ways to make money. But the social media companies have siphoned off ad dollars. And some have even duped the media into "pivot to video" strategies that have made the bleeding worse. motherjones.com/politics/2019/…
@DonorsChoose @MotherJones 4/ Lately, you've noticed, everything is going behind a paywall. Which is a fine strategy, because journalism takes money, a lot of it, and the beneficiaries of it, which is to say, all of us SHOULD pay. However...
@DonorsChoose @MotherJones 5/ ...the problem with paywalls is that it can lessen the reach of the journalism you make. And also they can, potentially, make the journalism only accessible to the well-off, and then that's who it could wind up catering to. It's a worry.
@DonorsChoose @MotherJones 6/ We—in part because we're a non-profit—have chosen instead to ask readers to support us, even as we make all our journalism available to all. So some people might give more, but we are beholden to everybody. Here's our revenue pie chart: motherjones.com/themoment/ 
@DonorsChoose @MotherJones 7/ Thanks to reader support, we've been able to grow, slowly, responsibly, but powerfully. Even when Facebook's algorithm changes cost us $600,000, readers stepped into the breach:
@DonorsChoose @MotherJones 8/ What have we done with your support? I'll highlight a few things along the way. Starting in 2012, long before more news orgs were covering the issue, we launched a major initiative into gun violence and mass shooting: motherjones.com/politics/2015/…
@DonorsChoose @MotherJones 9/ Long before most news orgs were doing much climate coverage, we were running massive investigations about it. Climate feedback loops? On it, in 2006 motherjones.com/environment/20…
@DonorsChoose @MotherJones 10/ Where did @billmckibben's essay that lead to @350.org appear? That'd be at @MotherJones, in 2008: motherjones.com/environment/20…
@DonorsChoose @MotherJones @billmckibben @350 11/ Almost 10 years ago, we brought together some of the best publications in the country to launch @ClimateDesk collaboration, which over the last few weeks has been interviewing the Democratic candidates about their plans: motherjones.com/politics/2019/…
@DonorsChoose @MotherJones @billmckibben @350 @ClimateDesk 12/ Who alerted the nation that US intelligence had been warned the Russians were trying to cultivate Trump before the election? That'd be @DavidCornDC, on the same day the NYT dismissed such concerns: motherjones.com/politics/2016/…
@DonorsChoose @MotherJones @billmckibben @350 @ClimateDesk @DavidCornDC 13/ Who sent reporter @shane_bauer undercover into a private prison to expose the horrible conditions and profiteering? @motherjones did motherjones.com/politics/2016/…
@DonorsChoose @MotherJones @billmckibben @350 @ClimateDesk @DavidCornDC @shane_bauer 14/ Shane also went undercover into racist border militias and exposed a far too cozy relationship with CPB agents: motherjones.com/politics/2016/…
@DonorsChoose @MotherJones @billmckibben @350 @ClimateDesk @DavidCornDC @shane_bauer 15/ In this piece we break down what Shane's prison piece cost us, about $350,000, and what kind of ad revenue it earned us: $5,000 motherjones.com/media/2016/08/…
@DonorsChoose @MotherJones @billmckibben @350 @ClimateDesk @DavidCornDC @shane_bauer 16/ The point is we can't do all of these things (and a whole bunch more I'm about to list) without your support. And any donation you make to us is being matched. Give us $5 we get $10. Give us $100 we get $200. motherjones.com/themoment/
@DonorsChoose @MotherJones @billmckibben @350 @ClimateDesk @DavidCornDC @shane_bauer 17/ Speaking of warnings about Trump, throughout 2016 we documented the way the white supremacists thrilled to, and in some cases worked for, the Trump campaign: motherjones.com/politics/2016/…
@DonorsChoose @MotherJones @billmckibben @350 @ClimateDesk @DavidCornDC @shane_bauer 18/ Chronicling the interplay between extremism and disinformation is an ongoing project for us. Like this @alibreland piece from yesterday: motherjones.com/politics/2019/…
@DonorsChoose @MotherJones @billmckibben @350 @ClimateDesk @DavidCornDC @shane_bauer @alibreland 19/ We don't back down when bullied. When a thin-skinned billionaire sued us, we stood up, and won. Doing so cost us a lot, but caving wasn't an option: motherjones.com/media/2015/10/…
@DonorsChoose @MotherJones @billmckibben @350 @ClimateDesk @DavidCornDC @shane_bauer @alibreland 20/ Our central mission is to stand up for ordinary people against those who try to rig the system against them. It's why @ariberman's work on voting rights is so core to what we do: motherjones.com/politics/2017/…
@DonorsChoose @MotherJones @billmckibben @350 @ClimateDesk @DavidCornDC @shane_bauer @alibreland @AriBerman 21/ We have outside the box beats. For example, after the 2016 election, I noticed a big overlap in counties that went heavily for Trump and were most ravaged by opioids. @julia_lurie has been covering the epidemic ever since: motherjones.com/politics/2019/…
@DonorsChoose @MotherJones @billmckibben @350 @ClimateDesk @DavidCornDC @shane_bauer @alibreland @AriBerman @julia_lurie 22/ With immigration at the center of political debate, we hired two reporters @Fer_Echavarri and @nlanard to focus on in: motherjones.com/politics/2019/…
@DonorsChoose @MotherJones @billmckibben @350 @ClimateDesk @DavidCornDC @shane_bauer @alibreland @AriBerman @julia_lurie @Fer_Echavarri @nlanard 23/ But now I want to talk about one of the most important things we do: our fellowship program. Making it bigger and better has been an ongoing focus—especially vital since so many pathways into journalism have withered.
@DonorsChoose @MotherJones @billmckibben @350 @ClimateDesk @DavidCornDC @shane_bauer @alibreland @AriBerman @julia_lurie @Fer_Echavarri @nlanard 24/ Our fellows (yes, paid) are with us for 6 months to a year. Many stay on as staff reporters/editors/producers after. But we've also seeded the staffs of other great news orgs: Buzzfeed, NYTMag, GQ, NPR, ABC News, Wired, myriad newspapers, Rolling Stone, Vox, HuffPo, etc etc.
@DonorsChoose @MotherJones @billmckibben @350 @ClimateDesk @DavidCornDC @shane_bauer @alibreland @AriBerman @julia_lurie @Fer_Echavarri @nlanard 25/ A lot of the starting jobs in journalism have been cut. Alt weeklies, for example, are where I and so many in my cohort cut our teeth. Journalism is being undercut in so many ways, but this way is overlooked. Your support helps us shore up: motherjones.com/themoment/
@DonorsChoose @MotherJones @billmckibben @350 @ClimateDesk @DavidCornDC @shane_bauer @alibreland @AriBerman @julia_lurie @Fer_Echavarri @nlanard 26/ Ok, taking a break for a bit. But tf @MotherJones is a news source you care about, if the smart fearless journalism we provide is valuable to you, then now is the time to donate. We're a reader-supported, union-shop, non-profit. We need you. motherjones.com/themoment/
@DonorsChoose @MotherJones @billmckibben @350 @ClimateDesk @DavidCornDC @shane_bauer @alibreland @AriBerman @julia_lurie @Fer_Echavarri @nlanard 27/ Any gift you make to @motherjones is a) tax deductible b) will be matched up to $500,000. We made a snazzy brochure to explain what we're doing, where the money goes. Take a look! motherjones.com/themoment/
