April 15, 2010

Apple to Fiore: No App for You!

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MotherJones.com cartoonist Mark Fiore just won a Pulitzer for his online animations, but he can’t get his own iPhone app. The Nieman Journalism Lab reports that Apple has rejected an app that Fiore developed, saying that it “ridicules public figures,” an apparent no-no in the iTunes app store, which only sells high-minded titles such as iFart, Atomic Fart, and Fart Piano. Not to mention the recently launched app from the reverent folks at The Onion, which I just installed on my iPhone of evil. Let’s see—its current lineup includes items that make fun of Oprah’s weight, call the Pope a Scrabble cheat, and portray Congress as a bunch of porn hounds. Hey, Mark, I think you should try to win this one on appeal.

Also: A gallery of Fiore’s greatest hits.

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We need to start raising significantly more in donations from our online community of readers, especially from those who read Mother Jones regularly but have never decided to pitch in because you figured others always will. We also need long-time and new donors, everyone, to keep showing up for us.

In "It's Not a Crisis. This Is the New Normal," we explain, as matter-of-factly as we can, what exactly our finances look like, how brutal it is to sustain quality journalism right now, what makes Mother Jones different than most of the news out there, and why support from readers is the only thing that keeps us going. Despite the challenges, we're optimistic we can increase the share of online readers who decide to donate—starting with hitting an ambitious $300,000 goal in just three weeks to make sure we can finish our fiscal year break-even in the coming months.

Please learn more about how Mother Jones works and our 47-year history of doing nonprofit journalism that you don't elsewhere—and help us do it with a donation if you can. We've already cut expenses and hitting our online goal is critical right now.

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