February 6, 2008

CA Live Blog: The Polarizing Politics of Pronunciation

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SAN JOSE, CA — This place is packed! Some forty phone bankers are pitching some major woo. They’re doing a great job reading their scripts, except when they get to this part: “It’s time to move beyond the polarizing politics of the past.” Ok, sure, Scarlett Johansson pulls off this line in robo calls without a hitch, but for average people, it’s kind of a persistently perilous problem. Chuck from Chicago, who’s sitting next to me, has said the PPP at least 100 times, and he’s still not sure he’s mastered it. “I can’t figure out how to make it sound natural,” he said. It might be time to try out something else. Maybe our readers have some suggestions. Nattering Negativity of the Nineties?

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From the desk of Mother Jones CEO, Monika Bauerlein...

Newsrooms can be funded in many ways. One of the most controversial (and volatile) ways is by a for-profit corporation or a billionaire owner. We see it across the headlines on a weekly basis: the claw backs in public media, the gutting of The Washington Post, the bending over backwards to appeal to Trump and his allies.

But not here.

When Mother Jones first started publishing 50 years ago, our founders made a critical decision: to be a reader-supported nonprofit. They knew that no corporate owner would be interested in a muckraking newsroom; they also knew that no muckraking newsroom would be interested in following the agenda of a corporate owner.

And so, we’ve been reader-funded for half a century. We rely on contributions from our readers—readers like you—whether it’s $50, or $15 a month, or whatever fits your budget. People give what they can, and every donation makes a difference for our newsroom, which has grown tremendously—in size and reach and renown—since its inception in 1976.

You may be wondering: What does it take to publish an investigation? And what does my donation actually fund? The answers are one and the same: It takes people, resources, and time. And that’s what your donation funds directly.

Every donation Mother Jones receives from readers fortifies our newsroom, whether we’re covering underreported scandals out of Washington, DC, or the most important news of the day. And right now, each donation will be doubled because of our $50,000 match. So when you make a donation—$5, $50, any amount—it’ll go twice as far.

Your support keeps us going. If you’re able, donate today.

Thanks for reading.

—Monika

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