Local News Shouldn’t Rely on Algorithms—That’s Where You Come In
The 51st is powered by community in all sorts of ways.
Hundreds of thousands of people in D.C. don’t know The 51st exists … yet.
Every time we pop up at events around the city, we meet people who loved DCist and were devastated when it shut down — people who light up when they hear about what we’re building.
DCist’s audience was massive. (Around a million monthly visitors at its peak!) Those readers — and other District residents — are still out there looking for local news.
There’s just so much news that needs covering. More and more federal actions are impacting local residents. We also don't want to lose sight of accountability for D.C.'s government while so much attention is on the president. The 51st is being tagged in more posts and receiving more tips than we’re able to cover at our current size.
We believe news is a public service, but we're currently only reaching 1% of D.C.'s population. Growth will also help us achieve sustainability.
We can’t rely on algorithms controlled by billionaires.
The best way to expand our worker-led local newsroom is by readers directly encouraging their communities to become subscribers. Even free subscribers help!
And if they decide to become paid members, rest assured that almost every dollar we receive goes into making journalism — a benefit of being run by journalists, not billionaires.
That means we don’t have a marketing department or even an ad budget. But we have you — our small but mighty (and growing!) crew of readers and supporters.
Can you help us spread the word?
📢 Forward this to a friend who loves local news and (probably) misses DCist.
💬 Share our sign-up link in your neighborhood listserv, on social media, in your most active group chat: (https://51st.news/signup)
🏡 Tell your neighbors. The next time local news comes up, mention us!
Thank you for being part of building The 51st with us,
Maddie and The 51st Team
