Trustworthy journalism is needed now more than ever

Dear Reader,

Last week, as headlines everywhere blared the news that Donald Trump had been indicted, The Conversation published an article by a criminal law scholar on who would try Trump first, the federal prosecutors who had just indicted him, or the New York state prosecutors who had indicted Trump on different charges two months ago. The article provided context and background – and it looked ahead – beyond the headlines. 

The goal, as always, was to give you independent news and analysis that you can trust.  

I work on the politics desk. Last year, after three elections, two impeachments, one insurrection, one ongoing war in Europe, the loss of Roe v. Wade and a lot of Trump, I decided to step down from the 24/7 job of running the politics desk and focus on the biggest story of my 30-year career covering politics: the crisis in democracy. 

I am writing to you today as the inaugural democracy editor at The Conversation U.S., where I commission and edit stories on everything from how elections work (or don’t) to gerrymandering (it’s not as bad as you think) to the case of U.S. Rep. George Santos and why a democracy can't easily penalize lies by politicians (the First Amendment). 

And as a veteran of nonprofit news in two states, Maine and Massachusetts – from public radio to an investigative news service that my husband and I founded to The Conversation U.S. – I can promise you that I have never felt more aware than I do at this moment of democracy’s need for independent journalism like ours. 

Here at The Conversation, we work with scholars and experts to bring you the depth of knowledge they have of their field, which rarely makes it into daily news reporting. 

We don’t give you opinions – there’s more than enough of that in the world. We don’t tell you what to think. We bring you the facts, the data, the historical context and the analysis so that you can make informed decisions about the very complex reality of life in the 21st century. We don’t publish stories filled with anonymous sources who say things you can’t verify. Every assertion of fact in our stories has a verifiable source. This is news you can trust. 

To do this work, we need your support. We’ve got swag we can give you at various levels of support. But I like to think you’d be helping us out for a much nobler reason: You are supporting democracy by supporting our work. That’s why I do what I do. It’s why I hope you’ll pitch in, too.

With thanks,

Naomi Schalit
Democracy Editor, The Conversation U.S.

P.S. About that swag I mentioned: If you make a recurring donation of $20 per month (or more), we will thank you with a tote bag. And every gift of $1,000 or more will be thanked with a set of two of our newly minted, first-edition books that are coming out later this month.

P.P.S.: Because we’re not just about politics, EVERY DONOR this month will receive a free magazine-style e-book explaining the latest developments in generative artificial intelligence.

How to donate:

By credit card: https://donate.theconversation.com/us 

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