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From David French: An Offer You Shouldn’t Refuse
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From David French: An Offer You Shouldn’t Refuse

The Dispatch combines the best of new media and the best of old media.

Today it’s my turn to pitch our free trial memberships, and first let me make it easy for you. If you’re already sold—and you don’t want to read any more—you can go ahead and click this link and join.

But if you’re not (yet) convinced, let me tell you the thing that surprised me the most about my Dispatch experience. And yes, I’m a consumer as well as an editor. I write and podcast, but I also read and listen. I get all the emails, and I listen to all the podcasts. And here’s what The Dispatch does for me—it reminds me of better times.

Some of us, who are old enough, remember the days when the morning paper helped you greet the day. No, we didn’t have time to read it cover-to-cover, but we did (ideally) read the important stories, and they were (again, ideally) written by reporters we’d come to know and trust. I could start the day confident that I understood what was happening in my world and my community.

When I wanted to dive in deeper, I could turn to a different section—sometimes it was called “review and outlook”—where analysts I trusted would take a close look at the news. In Cold War days, that’s where I learned about the balance of power between NATO and the Warsaw Pact or how the Exocet missile presented the Royal Navy with an unprecedented challenge during the Falklands War. 

The news didn’t have to outrage me to grab my attention. No one stood outside my door, waving 20 different headlines in my face, urging me to grab the paper that shocked me the most. Instead, I subscribed to publications I respected, I read writers and reporters I trusted, and I learned. It helped shape me into the person I am today.

And in fact, I just described The Dispatch. We’re the 21st century version of the best 20th century news experience. The Morning Dispatch is your morning paper, delivered directly to you. It sets the table for the day by diving in on the most important stories. It’s well-reported, readable, and scrupulously fair.

Then, our topic-specific newsletters are the review and outlook section. You’ll read and learn more than you thought you could about everything from election strategy (Sarah Isgur’s Sweep newsletter) to national security (Tom Joscelyn’s Vital Interests) to trade and economics (Scott Lincicome’s Capitolism). 

And who can forget my inimitable colleague Jonah Goldberg? He’s without question one of the top conservative thinkers of this new century, and he’s ours. There’s only one place to read all the Jonah there is to read, and that’s right here. 

If I had to peg the two most common compliments we receive at The Dispatch, it’s these:

The Dispatch helps keep me sane.”

The Dispatch taught me something I didn’t know.”

Indeed, that’s how I feel as well. When I read my colleagues’ work, I feel like I’m getting the straight story. If I’m alarmed, it’s not because they’re trying to alarm me. It’s because the facts are alarming. And when I read the deep dives, I always learn something. In fact, when news hits, one of my first thoughts is, “I’m looking forward to reading Sarah on this new polling” or “I’m sure Tom has an interesting analysis of Trump’s statements about generals.” And, by the way, the writing is good. It’s engaging, it holds your attention, and sometimes you might even laugh.

That’s my Dispatch experience. That will be your Dispatch experience. And now you can try it for free. I think you’ll like what you read.  

David French is a columnist for the New York Times. He’s a former senior editor of The Dispatch. He’s the author most recently of Divided We Fall: America's Secession Threat and How to Restore Our Nation.

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