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.

WE CAME UP SHORT.

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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.

payment methods

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