Dear reader,

We’re at the end of our spring campaign and I wanted to personally appeal to you for your support. We’ve taken an important stand this month by removing programmatic advertising from our site to focus on giving you, our readers, the best experience possible. We’re making a long-term bet that reader support can grow and sustain our organization, free from corporate influence or billionaire benefactors.

A generous donor has stepped up in the last few days of our campaign to match every one of your gifts, doubling your impact. Support from our readers is the reason why I am free to write what matters without influence from shareholders or the normal incentives of mainstream media. When I’m writing or reporting, I’m doing that with only our readers in mind. Can you join the hundreds of others who agree that this is something worth supporting?

As the war in Iran grinds on and Trump grows more desperate, we’re going to need independent, truth-telling media organizations more than ever. We’re seeing rapid consolidation of mainstream media into the hands of Trump-aligned oligarchs, the brazen use of state power to crush dissent, and the destruction of local news at the hands of private equity.  Independent media is a crucial bulwark against authoritarianism, and reader support is at the core of truly independent media. This is one of the last emails you’ll see from us making the case for support, so if you’ve been waiting, today is today. 

Thank you for reading and for all your support of the Prospect.

Best,