This is my nightmare — but hear me out
Hi there,
Colleen here. 51st cofounder and reporter, formerly of DCist and WAMU.
As your inbox probably suggests, it’s Giving Tuesday — that special day when every nonprofit you’ve ever given your email to reaches out with an open palm. Well, surprise, we’re going to do that too! But trust me, I wouldn’t be writing a fundraising appeal (writing fundraising emails is my nightmare, but as a worker-led org, we’re all responsible for making sure this ship floats!) if I didn’t believe in the longevity of worker-led media and the importance of our model — one that, based on the support we’ve seen thus far, D.C. residents want and need.
From the beginning, The 51st has been a community-run operation; without so many of you believing in this, we wouldn’t have been able to launch. And now, it’s sustaining support from readers that ensures we can continue bringing you independent local news well into the future.
You can make that happen by becoming a paid member today!
We need to gain roughly 800 more members by the end of the year; this would allow us to stay funded through the first half of 2025. (If you do the math, that’s about 25 new sign-ups a day by Dec. 31.) It’s a steep goal but we think we’ve got a pretty attractive offer; for $9.99/month, which is like, barely one bagel sandwich, ⅔ of a cocktail, or half of one ticket to Gladiator II, you can be one of the people carrying this new model of local news. And if you can’t swing $9.99 a month right now, that’s okay. Maybe consider sending this email along to someone who can!
I hate to be all “NOW, MORE THAN EVER,” but we are at a uniquely infuriating and existentially threatening (but also, energizing) point for D.C. and for local journalism. As if we needed any more of a wake-up call about the rot at the core of billionaire-run media, Jeff Bezos’ recent refusal to run a presidential endorsement in the Washington Post underscored the power these spineless C-suites can exert over what journalists make, and what audiences read. As we prepare for a second Trump administration, D.C. deserves local news that does not sway with the winds of corporate executives’ and shareholders’ interests, but empowers residents with the information and resources they need. We believe local journalism when it’s run by and for communities should make people’s lives better. And that’s what we’re trying to do with The 51st.
While we’re a scrappy team of seven part-time workers, we’ve tried to make sense of this moment by focusing on what we know: we published explainers on voting, the I-83 ballot initiative, and a local council race; we’ve untangled the messy web of potential impacts of a Republican-dominated federal government on D.C.’s autonomy; and we’ve broken down what “Home Rule” means so that our audience can be better equipped to protect it.
This is the type of journalism we believe can make an impact on the material lives of people in D.C., and with your support, we can continue publishing it for years to come.
Sign-up to become a member today!
With tons of gratitude,
Colleen
