Hey Dispatch Readers,
The pros would probably tell me this is a really dumb way to start a sales pitch, but I’m doing it anyway—because our free-trial offer expires at the end of this week. So I’m taking my shot.
While the ranks of Dispatch members continue to swell, some subscribers to The Dispatch have canceled. This is inevitable. The suits call it “churn”—and while our churn rate is very low by industry standards, we still hate it. But you know what one of the most common reasons people say they’re canceling is? Because we send them “too much stuff.”
Now, let me be clear. We don’t send them spam. We don’t send them miracle cures or notifications intended to bait the reader into coming to our website so we can monetize their clicks (nor do we sell addresses so other people can do that).
No, we just send too much substance, in the form of our various newsletters. We don’t even send the fantastic stuff we post on the website, including regular columns from Chris Stirewalt (and yours truly) and our new weekend culture features.
And here’s where the pros will get even more annoyed with me: I can promise you now, we’re not going to stop. If anything, we’re going to be sending out more newsletters, on more topics, reaching even greater depths of reporting and analysis. That’s been the plan from Day 1. And we really want you to be in it with us.
That said, you don’t have to opt-in to everything—or anything—we send out. This is key: You decide what you get from us. How much or how little, from which writers and on which topics. It’s all up to you. If you don’t like getting our stuff by email, that’s cool. Just come to the website where you can read in peace without annoying pop-ups and auto-play videos, and if you’re a member you have access to all of it. (And for the techies out there, we have an RSS feed too—whatever that means. Sounds like witchcraft.)
But if you want to get some stuff via email—but not other stuff—that’s fine too. You can manage your subscriptions via your My Account page as you like. Don’t want The Morning Dispatch, with its everything-you-need-to-know first-thing-in-the-morning summaries of the news, plus its deeper dives into topics that are worth your time? Fine, just opt-out.
Don’t want to read The Sweep, rapidly becoming required campaign reading for political consultants, politicians, and pundits across the ideological spectrum? Just unclick the box.
David French’s suite of legal, national security, and religious commentary not your bag? Don’t ask for that bag to be delivered to your email. Ditto Tom Jocelyn’s encyclopedic analysis of national security for Vital Interests or Scott Lincicome’s Capitolism with its invaluable explainers on trade, regulation, global economics or Haley Byrd Wilt’s Uphill, where she shines a bright light on the shadowy corners of Capitol Hill.
Just check or uncheck the box—whatever the case may be—right here on your My Account page:
You can update your email preferences as often as you like, we’re not judging.
Heck, if you don’t like the Goldberg File (G-File) with it’s, uh, well, stuff, you don’t have to get that delivered either.
But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t sign up for a membership. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t support what we’re trying to do.
In this Substack era, all of our writers could go off and start their own thing and they’d do very well. And, some of you would subscribe to them individually. But with The Dispatch, you don’t have to do that. You get access to them all in one bundle, delivered to you as you want. Plus you get access to live events—like tonight’s Dispatch Live—and, with the pandemic receding, you’ll soon get special access to real-world events, too.
I understand inbox fatigue. Believe me. But don’t hold that against us. We’re doing amazing things and we’re just getting started. Please be part of it.
Don’t delay: Sign up before Saturday and you’ll get the next 30 days to decide if a Dispatch membership is right for you. It’s a risk-free way to optimize your membership just so and support the kind of quality journalism our team works hard to put out each week. No obligation—cancel anytime. We don’t think you’ll want to—so sign up with the dozens of new Dispatch members who join every day, seeking fact-based reporting and analysis that you can trust.
Cheers,
Jonah
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