In March 2020, I took down Popular Information's paywall. Since then, each edition of Popular Information (767 newsletters!) has been freely available to everyone. And over the last four years, we've been able to produce journalism that rattles the cages of the powerful and creates change. Here are a few examples:

• Popular Information broke the news that Tennessee House Speaker Cameron Sexton (R) secretly purchased a $600,000 home in Nashville. Our reporting forced Sexton to admit his family lives in Nashville and raised serious questions about whether Sexton can legally represent a district two hours away. The news generated a flurry of national and local media coverage, including a lengthy piece in the Tennessean, the state's largest paper. Based on our reporting, residents of Sexton's district filed a civil complaint with the Tennessee Attorney General, and a non-profit watchdog group called for state and federal criminal investigations into Sexton's conduct.

• Popular Information revealed that the investigation into the death of Mika Westwolf, a 22-year-old Indigenous woman allegedly run over by a white nationalist, was under-resourced, haphazard, and focused on pinning blame on the victim. After our initial report, the story was picked up by major national news organizations, and the Montana Highway Patrol told Popular Information that the FBI had begun assisting with the investigation. Six months later, the suspect was arrested and charged with five felonies, including vehicular homicide while under the influence, criminal child endangerment, and criminal possession of dangerous drugs.

• Popular Information obtained a brochure that was given to migrants who agreed to board flights chartered by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R). The brochure listed numerous benefits that migrants would be eligible to receive, including “8 months cash assistance,” “job placement,” “assistance with housing,” and much more. These benefits were also promised verbally to lure migrants on the plane. But none of this was true. The brochure failed to mention that these benefits were only available to specially designated refugees. Popular Information's story was picked up by NBC News, Vice, Vanity Fair, Politico, Business Insider, and Univision. Days after the Popular Information report, the brochure was cited in a class action lawsuit against DeSantis and his accomplices. 

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