July 14, 2020

300 Drones Light Up the Sky to Salute Front-Line Workers and Promote PPE

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Granted, the most meaningful way to support front-line workers during the pandemic is to reduce its scope and improve the underlying conditions and disparities that heighten workers’ risks in the first place. But creative gestures of gratitude have their place, including the latest: drone formations. Hundreds of drones filled Seoul’s sky in a creatively choreographed showcase to recognize health care and other essential workers. The drones boosted messages of hand-washing, physical distancing, and mask-wearing, and encouraged everyone to keep diligent as the pandemic stretches on. Browse the photos of the display above the Han River, and share your ideas for how to continue supporting front-line workers at recharge@motherjones.com.

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WE'LL BE BLUNT

It is astonishingly hard keeping a newsroom afloat these days, and we need to raise $253,000 in online donations quickly, by October 7.

The short of it: Last year, we had to cut $1 million from our budget so we could have any chance of breaking even by the time our fiscal year ended in June. And despite a huge rally from so many of you leading up to the deadline, we still came up a bit short on the whole. We can’t let that happen again. We have no wiggle room to begin with, and now we have a hole to dig out of.

Readers also told us to just give it to you straight when we need to ask for your support, and seeing how matter-of-factly explaining our inner workings, our challenges and finances, can bring more of you in has been a real silver lining. So our online membership lead, Brian, lays it all out for you in his personal, insider account (that literally puts his skin in the game!) of how urgent things are right now.

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