| | Hey, | What a year it's been. I can't begin to express how grateful I am. Together, we've made incredible strides — but we still have a long way to go. | We've published more than 600 articles, conducted exclusive interviews with influential figures, and exposed underreported stories that have shaped America's conversation. All the while, we've sent out a newsletter almost every day. | We've expanded the team, brought on a full-time managing editor, and fine-tuned our editorial process to ensure that what you receive daily is the best it can be. | I'm proud to say that we have over 120,000 daily readers here, with over 400,000 readers across social media. During the election cycle alone, our reporting reached over 12 million voters, cutting through the media's false narratives and giving people the real story. | It's been an absolute dream to spend the last two years pouring everything I have into Upward News —and we plan on remaining steadfast in our mission: to report the news simply, clearly, and without liberal bias or agendas. | That mission drives us every single day, even when building the business has been an uphill battle. And this year has been challenging because of dwindling ad revenue — for all media — to say the least. We're still here and trucking ahead, but to provide you with all the reporting you need and expand our work, we have to adapt. | Inside the media business model | It's been nearly three years of building Upward News as a business, and in that time, I've learned a lot through trial and error. In a world where news outlets are closing left and right, just being here is something to be thankful for. | At the heart of it all is our paid readers. They are the foundation of everything we do. Their support allows us to make ends meet and provides us with a reliable runway each month. If we provide valuable content, our paid readers stick around — and they do. That's the beauty of it. | To all of our paid readers, I cannot thank you enough. Your support means everything to us. | But there's more to it. | We also still rely on ads to stay afloat. In the past, ads accounted for nearly 90 percent of our income. Now, thanks to our growing membership, ads contribute about 40 percent. It's still a lot, but less than before. | There's a problem in this model though. Ad revenue is unpredictable. And it's incredibly hard to manage. I learned that the hard way, but it's now clear: relying on ads takes precious time away from what I genuinely love: bringing you quality research, in-depth analysis, and news coverage you won't find anywhere else. | Instead of just serving you, we're serving advertisers. | So, what's changing? | Over the next year, we'll be reducing our reliance on ads. | The only way we can do this is by doubling down on our paid membership model. This will allow us to provide you with even more exclusive content, deeper dives, and better insights. | These changes will help me and the team focus on what really matters: creating high-quality, valuable content that you can't find anywhere else and ensuring we're serving you, our loyal readers, in the best way possible. | Paid members will get: Full access to the Daily Brief (Monday-Thursday) The Daily Brief delivered in the morning Exclusive content (deep dives, articles, new sections) Premium-only weekend newsletters with more exclusive content Access to the community discussion
Free readers will only get: New prices: In the coming weeks, as we continue to bring in new readers, we'll also be raising prices. This won't impact our current paid readers or those who join us over the next two weeks.
| | With all this in mind — our ultimate goal is to inform as many people as possible and fulfill our mission. If you want access to our insights and analysis, but our prices don't work for you, we'll work with you (just email me). | And just to be clear: There will always be some form of the Daily Brief available to all readers, but it will not include our deep dives or the extra insights reserved for our paid subscribers. |
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| Expect to love Upward News even more, if that's possible. | Based on the feedback we receive daily from both our paid members and free readers, we know we've created something special. | It's not by accident — behind the scenes, we're obsessive about quality. We've studied every major newsletter in the industry to ensure ours is the best. And it truly is. | Moving away from advertising, giving us more focus to serve you, and providing even more value to our supporters means more great content for you — and in new, exciting formats. Some things we're thinking about: | Videos, audio discussions, podcasts, and more. Premium deep dives, debates, and mailbags. We'll also be focused on turning Upward News into a community where we can serve you and engage with you.
| One more big thing: we'll be able to hire more full-time researchers and writers. This is big. | | This is all for YOU. | Upward News was born out of a frustration with biased reporting. I wanted to create something simple, smart, fast, and free from liberal bias. So, I took a leap, left my job, and made it my mission to fix that problem. | We're still just getting started — and I couldn't be more excited for the road ahead. | If you have any questions, thoughts, or feedback, I'm all ears. Don't hesitate to reach out — I'd love to hear from you. | Wishing you a happy and healthy New Year! | Ari | |
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