Associated Press To Syndicate Investigative Journalism

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Yesterday the Associated Press announced that in July it will begin syndicating investigative stories for its 1,500 member newspapers from four independent news shops: the Center for Public Integrity, the Center for Investigative Reporting, ProPublica, and the Investigative Reporting Workshop at American University. 

This is good news:

Investigative, independent, nonprofit journalism may be the brightest light journalism has going for it right now. ProPublica and the Investigative Workshop didn’t exist two years ago, and CIR is doubling its size. Mother Jones has also, thanks to your loyal support, flourished as a newsmaker. That the readers of the newspaper, how-many-ever of them are left, will be reading significant stories that aren’t easy to come by, is excellent indeed.

This is also bad news:

Or maybe just a confirmation of what we already knew: newspapers don’t have anyone investigating much of anything anymore. Which means that investigative shops supported by people like you equal all the stories we’re going to get. Even standout local newspaper reporting, like the Chauncey Bailey Project, was made possible via a collaborative, nonprofit effort. And with the AP deal newspapers are off the hook, since four indy orgs will dig the dirt for them.

Still, of the four news outlets supplying the AP, ProPublica has 32 reporters (plus its “citizen journalists” project), the Center for Public Integrity has 18 writers and fellows, CIR has 10 reporters (as of now), and the American University project uses mostly undergrads and graduate student stories. That’s 60 full-time journalists tracking and scouring for stories for 1,500 newspapers and their readers. Which, of course, is 60 more than we had last week.

Right now signs are pointing toward independent media as the savior of an entire industry, of a fourth estate that is meant to hold government, industry, everyone, accountable. To do so nonprofits need more than the usual shoestring, they need longevity, and long leashes. Because investigative reporting is hard, confounding, and critical work, just ask newspapers.

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AN IMPORTANT UPDATE

We’re falling behind our online fundraising goals and we can’t sustain coming up short on donations month after month. Perhaps you’ve heard? It is impossibly hard in the news business right now, with layoffs intensifying and fancy new startups and funding going kaput.

The crisis facing journalism and democracy isn’t going away anytime soon. And neither is Mother Jones, our readers, or our unique way of doing in-depth reporting that exists to bring about change.

Which is exactly why, despite the challenges we face, we just took a big gulp and joined forces with The Center for Investigative Reporting, a team of ace journalists who create the amazing podcast and public radio show Reveal.

If you can part with even just a few bucks, please help us pick up the pace of donations. We simply can’t afford to keep falling behind on our fundraising targets month after month.

Editor-in-Chief Clara Jeffery said it well to our team recently, and that team 100 percent includes readers like you who make it all possible: “This is a year to prove that we can pull off this merger, grow our audiences and impact, attract more funding and keep growing. More broadly, it’s a year when the very future of both journalism and democracy is on the line. We have to go for every important story, every reader/listener/viewer, and leave it all on the field. I’m very proud of all the hard work that’s gotten us to this moment, and confident that we can meet it.”

Let’s do this. If you can right now, please support Mother Jones and investigative journalism with an urgently needed donation today.

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