October 21, 2009

We’re Still at War: Photo of the Day for October 21, 2009

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Retired Staff Sgt. Luke Wilson jokes that audience members can play with his prosthetic leg if they want to during a “town hall meeting” with Soldiers of 1st Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division, during a visit by wounded warriors participating in Operation Proper Exit, Oct. 15, at Camp Ramadi, Iraq. (US Army photo via army.mil.)

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AN IMPORTANT UPDATE ON MOTHER JONES' FINANCES

We need to start being more upfront about how hard it is keeping a newsroom like Mother Jones afloat these days.

Because it is, and because we're fresh off finishing a fiscal year, on June 30, that came up a bit short of where we needed to be. And this next one simply has to be a year of growth—particularly for donations from online readers to help counter the brutal economics of journalism right now.

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Urgent, for sure. But it's not all doom and gloom!

Because over the challenging last year, and thanks to feedback from readers, we've started to see a better way to go about asking you to support our work: Level-headedly communicating the urgency of hitting our fundraising goals, being transparent about our finances, challenges, and opportunities, and explaining how being funded primarily by donations big and small, from ordinary (and extraordinary!) people like you, is the thing that lets us do the type of journalism you look to Mother Jones for—that is so very much needed right now.

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