A Bigger, Better Dispatch Is Coming Your Way
Dear Dispatch readers,
We’ve got good news—and lots of it.
The Dispatch is growing. We’re growing in size, we’re growing in influence, we’re growing in membership, and we’re growing in reach. And we want you to be a part of it! Please read on to learn more about our growth and how you can join us.
We’ve recently added several new staffers and we’re in the process of hiring several more people to join our growing team. With nearly 30,000 paying members and 175,000 people on our total email list, The Dispatch is helping shape our national debate on politics, policy, and culture. Our work is cited regularly by elected officials and other media outlets. Our reporters break news and our newsletter writers drive discussion on religion, policy, the courts, politics, national security, economics, and more.
Most of this work appears in the inboxes of our members or on our website. But our staff also share their work in the country’s top newspapers and magazines, on radio shows across the country and a wide variety of podcasts, and everything from streaming video shows to network newscasts. And that reach is about to grow further. Earlier today, CNN announced that Jonah will be joining the network to bring his distinctive conservative voice to its audience. He’ll appear on CNN’s top shows, including The Story with Jake Tapper and State of the Union, CNN’s Sunday morning news program. And late last month, NBC announced that Steve was joining the network as a political analyst and contributor. He will appear on Meet the Press and The Today Show, as well as NBC’s special political programming.
We’re excited to bring Dispatch-style reporting and commentary to these new audiences, expanding by millions the number of news consumers who will be exposed to the work we do here. As we said when we left Fox News, we won’t be occupying the anti-Fox chairs on these networks; we’ll use our appearances to offer sane, thoughtful analysis on what’s happening in the country today. And we’re excited to get started and to use these opportunities to grow our Dispatch community.
That’s good news for The Dispatch as an institution. But there’s more. We appreciate having you as readers, but a full Dispatch membership is about to become an even better value. Here’s how:
Weekly Dispatch Lives: Beginning February 15, join our writers, editors, and special guests every Tuesday night for The Dispatch Live streaming programs. We’ll discuss the news of the day and interview the country’s leading newsmakers and thinkers – live and exclusively for Dispatch members. We invite members to pull up a chair and grab a drink if they’re so inclined– it’ll be like a cable TV roundtable but without the shouting and the performative nonsense.
Events, finally: When we first scribbled out our plans before we launched The Dispatch, we shorthanded it this way: newsletters, podcasts, community, and events. And in those early days, we started making plans for a variety of events that would allow us all to get together in a variety of settings. Big, fancy conferences. Regional podcast tapings. Happy hour meet-ups, etc. For more than two years, COVID has thwarted those efforts. But we’re optimistic that we’ll be able to see many of you in person this year. Stay tuned.
Dispatch Book Club/Podcast: Starting next month, our Sarah Isgur will be leading a book club exclusively for Dispatch members. Sarah is a bibliophile extraordinaire and she’s already selected books—one each month—through the end of the year. The podcasts will feature discussion of the selections, often with the authors, and the conversation will continue in the Dispatch community on our website.
New community features: Participating in our comment threads requires a Dispatch membership, which we feel helps keep the discussions civil. In the coming months, along with big changes to our website, you’ll see several new features to enhance the Dispatch community experience.
Welcome to Dispatch Politics 2022: As our political volatility stretches into another election season, we’ve got you covered. Republicans are well-positioned to win the House of Representatives. A handful of races will determine control of the Senate. There are perhaps a dozen high-stakes governor’s races across the country. And, in the background, the campaigns of would-be presidential contenders are raising money and quietly adding staff. To cover it all, we’re launching Dispatch Politics, our comprehensive effort to cover campaigns and elections with exactly the kind of nuance and context you’ve come to expect. In addition to The Sweep, we’ve launched Stirewaltisms, our oddly named newsletter containing the wit and wisdom of Chris Stirewalt, the former digital politics editor of Fox News and a veteran political observer. Beyond that, we’ve allocated many, many thousands of dollars to our travel budget so that Dispatch reporters will be on the ground to bring you in-depth coverage of the races already in the news and other races we believe should be in the news.
And there’s much more coming.
On that note, we are conducting a 30-day free trial. Sign up today or anytime through February 21 and enjoy all the benefits of membership. If it’s not to your liking, you can cancel at any point during the trial and you won’t be charged.
We hope that you’ll find that these additions will convince you that being a paid member of The Dispatch is a worthwhile investment.
Cheers,
Steve
