John,

I’ve been worried about the information crisis in this country for a long time. In the 1990s, conservatives built Fox News and talk radio in direct opposition to what they called the “liberal mainstream media,” opening the door to the flood of bad information we’re dealing with today.

Too many traditional news outlets shifted into a defensive posture, deciding to treat “both sides” of every political argument as equally credible to prove their neutrality — even when one side was saying demonstrably false things.

This naturally led to even more widespread distrust. And when combined with the shuttering of local and regional newsrooms, it’s no wonder why more than 185 million Americans don’t trust the news.

But only recently have we started to truly feel the consequences this is having on our democracy. Democracy relies on journalists who are willing to ask tough questions, hold power accountable, and call out disinformation for what it is, especially when it’s coming from powerful politicians. And it relies on newsrooms that are supportive of that mission.

That’s why I founded COURIER, John. And with our network of online newsrooms now serving ten battleground states, we’re making a big impact. Our journalists in states like Arizona and Wisconsin have already shown what a powerful role trustworthy local news can play in state and local elections.

But we need your help to continue providing the communities we serve with quality journalism. Unfortunately, we fell short of meeting our mid-month fundraising deadline yesterday which is why I’m reaching out to ask you to become a sponsor of our newsrooms today:

You've been chosen to sponsor our newsrooms! Your donation will go towards powering the high-quality journalism from each of our newsrooms located across ten battleground states — including Arizona, Florida, Iowa, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Wisconsin. And that's not all — COURIER is making plans to open a newsroom in Texas ahead of the 2024 election!  Can we count on you to chip in now and help our newsrooms spread their stories across their states? Chip in  ➡️

We’ve watched the mainstream media normalize and propagate Trump’s blatant lies ever since his first campaign in 2016, and we saw the consequences when his supporters attacked the Capitol on January 6th. For the sake of our democracy, we need to do our part to inform voters and make sure it doesn’t happen again in 2024.

John, none of our newsrooms rely on subscription fees or paywalls to keep the lights on. All of our stories are completely free to read, and instead, we rely on grassroots donations from supporters like you to help us keep up our work.

Yesterday, we fell short of reaching our $7,500 mid-month fundraising goal. Can you pitch in whatever you can to help us catch up?

Pitch in ➡️

Thanks so much for your support,

Tara McGowan
Founder & Publisher
COURIER