Believe it or not, GetReligion has been around since 2004.

Doug LeBlanc clicked a mouse and launched the earliest version of this weblog on February 1, to be precise. When you’ve been working that long in the craziness that is the World Wide Web, you end up with some inevitable housekeeping issues.

Please hang in there with me for a minute or two for updates on two pieces of in-house business.

First, we have had to change — once again — the format of our daily mini-newsletter for those who would rather read GetReligion via email. The current list will vanish in a day or so.

A bit of history: Long, long ago, we had more than 600 people signed up for this kind of service. Then we switched platforms (it’s a long story) and lots of email readers got lost in the process. It’s always a hassle when something changes what does, and what doesn’t, show up in your daily wave of emails.

Now, we are having to relaunch our Mailchimp list. This is yet another side effect of the 2014 death of our co-worker Arne Fjeldstad of the Media Project, who launched the current version and, thus, was the “owner” of that list. Yes, many people (around the world) still miss Arne.

Now this feature needs to be updated. However, signing up for this updated Mailchimp list isn’t rocket science. Just click here and fill in the blanks. That’s all there is to it.

Item No. 2 is linked to the end of 2021 — think taxes and end-of-the-year donations to nonprofit groups.

For many of you, GetReligion is in that list. To cut to the chase, we still need your help.

Along with many other worthy endeavors, the coronavirus pandemic has — for totally understandable reasons — seriously hampered fundraising efforts for projects linked to the Overby Center at the University of Mississippi. That includes GetReligion, of course.

For example, we recently (see the above YouTube and this GetReligion post about the event) were able to hold our first on-campus event since the start of the crisis. This forum focused on why religion has played a crucial role in the COVID-19 vaccine wars and, yes, in why the mainstream press has struggled to cover all of this.

If you appreciate the work of Richard Ostling, Julia Duin, Ira Rifkin, Clemente Lisi and the other GetReligionistas, please make a donation or set up a monthly tax-exempt donation. You can use the credit card of your choice or just send a check. Your gift is sent to the University of Mississippi Foundation, but it goes directly into the Overby Center’s GetReligion fund.

Just. Click. Here. I’m a regular donor (I receive no stipend for my GetReligion work) and I just received a nice gift. Hint: It was a book about a judge. Here’s hoping we can keep doing things like that.

Here’s a big THANK YOU to everyone who has helped in the past and chooses to help in the future.

With your assistance we can keep doing what we do.