Welcome to the Message Box community. There has been an exciting influx of new subscribers over the last few weeks. Many of you came through the generous recommendations of folks like Simon Rosenberg, Dave Pell, Robert B. Hubbell, and Tristan Snell.

With so many new folks on board, I wanted to update everyone on our plans for 2024.

My operating theory of this election is that whichever side wins the information war, wins the election. The 2024 election will occur in the most chaotic and unpredictable information environment ever. I cannot emphasize enough how much the media landscape has changed since the 2020 election.

It has never been more difficult for voters to follow the news or for politicians to get attention. The traditional political media is at its nadir in influence, reach, and credibility. Audiences are declining and becoming more ideologically homogeneous. All but the most  engaged voters have tuned out political news altogether.

Social media used to be a major conduit for news — no more. Elon Musk rendered Twitter utterly unusable. Facebook, once the most dominant media platform in the world, moved away from news and politics. TikTok emerged as a major news source for younger voters, but the information on that platform is often present without context; and credibility can be impossible to divine.

Navigating this broken information environment will be Message Box's primary focus this year. I believe the only way Democrats can defeat the Right Wing media machine is by empowering each of our voters and volunteers to carry the message directly to their friends and family. All of the data shows that you are a much more persuasive messenger than any politician or media outlet.

In addition to explaining and contextualizing political events, polls, and the larger trends shaping politics, Message Box will be a resource for people at every level of politics, including those trying to persuade the people in their lives to get off the sidelines and vote against MAGA extremists up and down the ballot.

This year, you will see more of the following:

• Information guides to put the defining moments of this campaign into perspective, like this one detailing the GOP’s efforts to impeach President Biden;

• Message guidance on how to talk about important topics and events based on my experience and the available polling, like this one about Trump’s support for the January 6th rioters;

• Curated selections of the most informative content about the election and

• Posts highlighting important stories neglected by our broken media.

If you want to support this work, please consider becoming a paid subscriber. I am offering a 20% discount for a year.

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Paid subscribers get access to all of the posts, the full archive, and a weekly chat where I answer your questions about the elections (and anything else).

This newsletter started as a side project while I was stuck at home during the 2020 election. Since it’s grown into a much larger enterprise — with nearly 60,000 total subscribers. It now takes more time and incurs more overhead costs, including editing, research, and web hosting. Every new paid subscriber supports this work, allowing me to grow the community and take on new projects. All support is greatly appreciated, but mainly, I want to thank you for coming along for the ride.

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