April 13, 2009

Millionaire Journalists

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Bob Somerby has an assignment for some enterprising reporter:

Yesterday, Parade magazine offered a regular feature: “What People Earn: Our Annual Report.” Out on the cover and inside the magazine, Parade let us see how much people earn in all the various occupations.

Well — in all the various occupations but one. By our count, Parade offered head shots, with annual earnings, for 71 different people. There was a teacher, a pilot, a CEO and a realtor — two singers, a rapper and a big famous film star. But one occupation was oddly missing. No journalist could be found in the mix!

How much are major journalists paid? Major journalists rarely discuss that.

….Next year, could this feature include the earnings of some big major journalists? How much is Maureen Dowd paid, for example? Why can’t she and Rich grace Parade’s famous cover? We have literally never seen an estimate of Dowd’s yearly swag. We’re also curious how much she paid for JFK’s pad — how she managed to land such a pad even before she became a big columnist. Big journalists ask questions like that about everyone — except about other big journalists.

Well, maybe there were no big journalists, but in the online version they did include sports blogger Josh Bacott, who makes $10,700.  And TV news reporter John Dougherty, who makes $25,500.  So they’re trying!  But sadly, no Dowd.  Maybe next year.

 

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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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