---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Robert Reich <moveon-help@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Sat, 28 Dec 2019 14:21:27 +0000
Subject: Layoffs (Please read)
To: Carl Jarvis <carjar82@xxxxxxxxx>
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?
[
https://act.moveon.org/go/114960?refcode=253601&t=1001&akid=253601%2E17279675%2EvpT2M0
]Yes, I'll help keep Inequality Media strong—as a factual, truthful
counterpoint to Fox News, Breitbart News, and the rest of the deceptive
right-wing media.
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.
[
https://act.moveon.org/go/114960?refcode=253601&t=1002&akid=253601%2E17279675%2EvpT2M0
]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.
[
https://act.moveon.org/go/114960?refcode=253601&t=1003&akid=253601%2E17279675%2EvpT2M0
]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=1004&akid=253601%2E17279675%2EvpT2M0
2. "These Reporters Lost Their Jobs. Here Are the Stories They Couldn't
Tell." The New York Times, December 21, 2019
https://act.moveon.org/go/114942?t=1005&akid=253601%2E17279675%2EvpT2M0
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?
[
https://act.moveon.org/donate/civ-donation-footer?suggested_ask=3&source=mailing-footer&t=1022&akid=253601%2E17279675%2EvpT2M0
]Click here to chip in $3, or whatever you can afford.
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