Newsdesk.org needs your help today!

[nymhm at lists.artsandmedia.net]

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            Newsdesk.org Winter Fund Drive
            Funds raised so far: $360   //   Goal:  $2,000
            People on List:  1,951   //   Weeks left:  3

            Donate online: http://artsandmedia.net/contributions/
            Get the latest online: http://newsdesk.org/

            * Full details on making a tax-deductible
               donation are at the end of this email. *
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December 7, 2007

Dear Friends of Newsdesk.org;

Seismic shifts continue to rock the journalism world.

Knight Ridder, once one of the great newspaper publishers, is no more. 
In the Bay Area, this has resulted in a near monopoly by the MediaNews 
Group, which, in the process of acquiring the old KR properties, is 
seeking to eliminate the Newspaper Guild to push forward its new 
cost-cutting agenda.

This drive cut costs only means a decrease in significant reportage of 
all sorts:

-- The Boston Globe, Baltimore Sun, Newsday and LA Times have all 
shuttered or diminished overseas bureaus ... this in a time of 
international terrorism, global climate shifts, and boundary-crossing 
cultural and economic crises.  

-- Media consolidation, which drives cost-cutting, continues apace ... 
from Rupert Murdoch's Wall Street Journal acquisition to Sam Zell's 
play for the Chicago Tribune. 

-- Presidential campaign reporting in the United States trudges forward 
with the traditional "horse race" coverage of hairstyles, candidate 
upsmanship and poll-tracking. 

In the midst of all this, we at Newsdesk.org seek only to increase our 
reporting capacity, expand our groundbreaking world news coverage, and 
dig ever-deeper into the fundamental and urgent issues of our times.

We also push forward the dialogue about journalism and democracy, 
through events such as "Save The News!" -- a public conversation coming 
up December 12 in San Francisco:

    Dec. 12: "Save the News!" Journalism, democracy & our communities
    http://www.newsdesk.org/archives/004487.html	
	

YOU CAN HELP
We've been publishing News You Might Have Missed every Wednesday since 
February 2002. Our budget is less than $10,000 a year. But now we need 
your help. There's a lot of news out there you're not getting. And it's 
clear that you can't count on the big guys to deliver it.

Your donations of $25, $50, $100, $500 or more will keep Newsdesk.org 
alive in 2007 -- and help us grow. Details on how to make a 
tax-deductible donation are at the end of this email -- or just click 
through to our secure online donor page:

       Newsdesk.org Donor Page
       http://artsandmedia.net/contributions/

All donations are handled by our sponsor, Independent Arts & Media, a 
nonprofit group that advances public dialogue by increasing access to 
independent voices.

Thanks so much for your support of nonprofit, commercial-free 
journalism!

Sincerely,

Josh Wilson * Editor
Newsdesk.org

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HERE'S HOW YOU CAN SUPPORT NEWSDESK.ORG IN 2008

           Newsdesk.org Winter Fund Drive
            Funds raised so far: $360   //   Goal:  $2,000
            People on List:  1,951   //   Weeks left:  3

            Recommended donations: $25, $50, $100, $500 or more.

            Donate online: http://artsandmedia.net/contributions/

            Snail Mail (checks only!): Independent Arts & Media
            PMB 821 * 601 Van Ness Ave., Ste. E * SF, CA 94102

            * All donations are tax-deductible. *
            * Thank you for your generous support! *
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