July 10, 2007

Hustler (!!) at the Heart of the Vitter Sex Scandal

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If this story keeps getting more entertaining, we may blog nothing else. Turns out, Hustler was the news organization (“news organization”) that discovered Senator Vitter’s presence on the DC Madam’s phone list. They called Vitter for comment, and Vitter, realizing the game was up, ran to the AP with the admission, so as to preempt the Hustler story. Larry Flint, grand don of all things Hustler, is on an ongoing campaign to expose the hidden sexual misdeeds of the powerful, so there may be more of this glorious nonsense coming down the pipe.

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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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