Hi, fellow MoveOn member,
This is former Labor Secretary Robert Reich. I'm writing to you today because the media industry is in deep trouble right now.
As Facebook and Google become behemoths that gobble up an increasing share of advertising revenue, many media operations have had to lay off staff or shut down completely. More than 7,800 people lost their jobs in the media industry this year, according to Business Insider.1 And according to The New York Times, more than 1,000 local reporters are out of work.2
I launched my own nonprofit media organization, Inequality Media, back in 2014, to help get fact-based videos out there. We've made many "explainer" videos in collaboration with MoveOn—most recently, on how America has socialism for the rich and harsh capitalism for everybody else, and why we need to legalize marijuana. With a small but mighty six-person team, we've created videos and broadcasts that have been viewed over 500 million times.
Because Inequality Media doesn't depend on advertiser dollars or Facebook's algorithm, we are an exception in the turmoil that's hit the media industry this year—but that means we have a responsibility to do even more in 2020, especially given the growing right-wing wave of disinformation and the shrinking unbiased press that we're up against.
We've set a goal of raising $100,000 from MoveOn members by December 31 to achieve our ambitious goals in 2020—ramping up our operation so we can produce ten times the content at ten times the pace. Will you chip in $3, or more if you can?
In 2020, we need to double down on our efforts and do even more.
Our current model is operating on a shoe-string budget and putting out just one video a week. In 2020, that just won't cut it. One video a week, no matter how in-depth and well-researched, is simply not enough to combat the one-two punch of the growing right-wing wave of disinformation and the shrinking unbiased press.
That's why we're shifting gears in 2020. With your help, we're going to put out videos every day—short, snappy, but still fully-researched clips that will directly debunk whatever lies the right wing has been spreading that day. And we're launching a YouTube talk show to take on the platform's right-wing radicalization.
We have big plans. But we can't do any of our work without your support. Which is why I'm asking:
Will you chip in $3, or more if you can? Your donation to Inequality Media today will help us blast out more content and educate the public next year. Donations are tax-deductible, and if you chip in by New Year's Day, your donation will be matched dollar for dollar by generous supporters dedicated to our mission.
Yes, I'll make a tax-deductible, matched gift to Inequality Media!
Inequality Media has to do everything we can, day in and day out, to combat the Trump administration's lies with the truth. The right wing has deep-pocket, dark money funders to get its message out there; that's what keeps Fox News and Breitbart News in business.
But we have something much better: We have you.
Will you make a tax-deductible, matched gift to Inequality Media now, and help us start 2020 strong?
Thanks, so much, for all you do.
–Robert Reich
Sources:
1. "7,800 people have lost their jobs so far this year in a media landslide," Business Insider, December 10, 2019
https://act.moveon.org/go/114941?t=5&akid=253601%2E10220574%2E5_6Gda
https://act.moveon.org/go/114942?t=7&akid=253601%2E10220574%2E5_6Gda
Want to support MoveOn's work? The MoveOn community will work every moment, day by day and year by year, to resist Trump's agenda, contain the damage, defeat hate with love, and begin the process of swinging the nation's pendulum back toward sanity, decency, and the kind of future that we must never give up on. And to do it MoveOn needs your support, now more than ever. Will you stand with MoveOn?
Click here to chip in $3, or whatever you can afford.
Contributions to MoveOn Civic Action are not tax-deductible for income tax purposes. This email was sent to Mar Alfaro on December 28, 2019. To change your email address or update your contact info, click here. If you'd like to receive less frequent emails from MoveOn, you can click here. To remove yourself from this list, click here.
No comments:
Post a Comment