November 4, 2012

Gears Turn, Lights Blink, and Mitt Romney Tells Us His Favorite TV Shows

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For their final pre-election issue, TV Guide asked President Obama about his favorite TV shows. You’ve probably read about this: he likes Homeland, Boardwalk Empire, and Modern Family. And SportsCenter. Lots and lots of SportsCenter. But what about Mitt Romney? Has even TV Guide succumbed to liberal Hollywood bias, refusing to give him equal time? Is Walter Annenberg rolling in his grave?

No. TV Guide asked Romney about his favorite shows, but apparently he spent too much time focus-grouping his answers to make their deadline. Wouldn’t want to accidentally offend any key voter demographics, after all! However, once the Romneytron 3000 finished its calculations, it turned out that he likes Modern Family, Justified, 30 Rock and NCIS. A perfect blend of critical favorites and middlebrow taste. I’d expect no less from him.

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WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

And we hope you might consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

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