The Dispatch
 The Dispatch's logo as of 2021 | |
Screenshot  The Dispatch's home page as of 2021 | |
Type of site | Political journalism, political commentary |
|---|---|
| Available in | English |
| Created by | Stephen F. Hayes Jonah Goldberg Toby Stock |
| Editors | Jonah Goldberg (editor-in-chief) Rachael Larimore (managing editor) David A. French (contributing editor) Chris Stirewalt (contributing editor) |
| President | Toby Stock |
| CEO | Stephen F. Hayes |
| Revenue | $1.9 million |
| URL | thedispatch |
| Commercial | Yes |
| Registration | Required for viewing some articles and for commenting |
| Launched | October 2019 |
The Dispatch is an American conservative subscription-based and advertisement-free online magazine founded by Jonah Goldberg, Stephen F. Hayes, and Toby Stock.[1][2][3] Several of The Dispatch's staff (including Hayes) are alumni of The Weekly Standard, which is now defunct, and National Review.[1]
History
[edit]| This article is part of a series on |
| Conservatism in the United States |
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After The Weekly Standard ceased publication in December 2018, Hayes, Goldberg, and Stock were inspired to start a media company with the goal of "producing serious, factually grounded journalism for a conservative audience".[4] Goldberg and Hayes expressed concern over the alliance between conservative media outlets and the Republican Party, and started The Dispatch with a desire to instead focus on conservative principles, regardless of party lines.[5] The company is based in downtown Washington, D.C.[4] By June 2020, The Dispatch had grown to twelve staffers.[6]
The Dispatch began with a beta launch in October 2019 and fully launched on January 7, 2020.[1] Hayes, Goldberg, and Stock own a majority of the company, but there are additional individual investors.[7] The founders intentionally avoided using venture capitalists.[6] At its launch in October 2019, The Dispatch had pooled $6 million in investment capital and had in its employ a full-time staff of eight individuals,[5] including founding editor-in-chief Jonah Goldberg, managing editor Rachael Larimore, and (soon after its launch) senior editor David A. French.[2][8] In January 2020, shortly after launching, The Dispatch Podcast appeared briefly on Apple's Top 100 news podcasts.[4] By March 2020, the company claimed to have nearly 10,000 paying subscribers.[9]
The Poynter Institute's International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN) certified The Dispatch's fact-checking division in May 2020.[10][11] As of Octobor 2024, The Dispatch had more than 500,000 subscribers, with more than 40,000 of them paying for the full service.[12] The company pulled in nearly $2 million in revenue during its first year, most of which was from Substack subscriptions.[5][13] The Dispatch was Substack's first media company.[7] In October 2022, the publication moved from Substack to its own website.[14]
The Dispatch has been sharply critical of Donald Trump from a center-right perspective.[2] On 6 January 2021, after the 2021 storming of the United States Capitol, Rudy Giuliani left a voicemail message intended for Senator Tommy Tuberville on a different Senator's voicemail account. This message urged Tuberville to delay certification of the electoral vote: "Just try to slow it down." The unnamed Senator gave the message to The Dispatch, which immediately broke the story.[15] The next day, The Dispatch published an editorial calling for the impeachment and removal of President Trump.[16]
Content
[edit]The Dispatch provides free web content, podcasts, and a mix of paid and free newsletters.[4] The Dispatch also produces a fact-checking column.[4]
Newsletters
[edit]- The Morning Dispatch – a morning deep dive into the big political, and cultural stories of the day. It is written by Mary Trimble, Grayson Logue, and James P Sutton.
- The G-File – Jonah Goldberg's weekly Friday newsletter. There is also a paid Wednesday newsletter, nicknamed the "Hump Day Epistle".[17]
- Vital Interests – a weekly newsletter focusing on threats to America's national security and interests around the globe.[18] It is written by Thomas Joscelyn of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies.
- The Dispatch Fact Check – a newsletter seeking to "identify and correct errors of fact, misstatements, misinformation and outright disinformation that make their way into the news stories and social media feeds every day."[19] The Dispatch is one of Facebook's 11 third-party fact-checking partners in the United States.[20] It is written by Cameron Hilditch and edited by Rachael Larimore and Steve Hayes.
- The Sweep – Sarah Isgur's newsletter covering elections and the ins and outs of campaign strategy. Chris Stirewalt, who was fired from Fox News after the 2020 election (allegedly for calling Arizona for Biden too soon), also contributes.[21]
- Capitolism – Scott Lincicome's weekly newsletter about federal economic policy
- Wanderland – Kevin D. Williamson's weekly newsletter[22]
Podcasts
[edit]- The Dispatch Podcast – hosted by Sarah Isgur, and co-starring David French, Jonah Goldberg, and Steven Hayes. Isgur and Hayes also host special editions interviewing people.[4]
- The Remnant – a podcast featuring conversations between Jonah Goldberg and a weekly guest that mixes "history, pop culture, rank-punditry, political philosophy, and, at times, shameless book-plugging".[5][23] There is also a weekly solo podcast where Jonah discusses his thoughts on the news of the week, along with explaining his weekly G-file, nicknamed the "Ruminant".[24]
- Advisory Opinions – podcast on law and culture with Sarah Isgur and David French.
Notable personnel
[edit]- Stephen F. Hayes, CEO and co-founder
- Jonah Goldberg, editor-in-chief and co-founder
- David A. French, contributing editor
- Chris Stirewalt, contributing editor
- Sarah Isgur, staff writer and podcast host
- Nick Catoggio, staff writer[25]
- Kevin D. Williamson, national correspondent[26]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c Lippman, Daniel (November 19, 2019). "Sarah Isgur joins conservative media startup as staff writer". Politico. Archived from the original on April 12, 2021. Retrieved April 12, 2021.
- ^ a b c Calderone, Michael. "Trump critics on the right join the media wars". Politico. Archived from the original on July 29, 2020. Retrieved October 19, 2019.
- ^ Coppins, McKay (January 31, 2020). "The Conservatives Trying to Ditch Fake News". The Atlantic. Archived from the original on March 10, 2021. Retrieved April 12, 2021.
The Dispatch produces "serious, factually grounded journalism for a conservative audience".
- ^ a b c d e f Coppins, McKay (January 31, 2020). "The Conservatives Trying to Ditch Fake News". The Atlantic. Archived from the original on March 10, 2021. Retrieved April 12, 2021.
- ^ a b c d Allen, Mike (October 8, 2019). "Scoop: Steve Hayes and Jonah Goldberg to launch The Dispatch". Axios. Archived from the original on April 18, 2021. Retrieved April 12, 2021.
- ^ a b Bienaime, Pierre (June 16, 2020). "'We don't need your clicks': The Dispatch co-founder Steve Hayes on bucking the attention economy". Digiday. Archived from the original on April 12, 2021. Retrieved April 12, 2021.
- ^ a b Owen, Laura Hazard (October 8, 2019). "Substack's first media company is The Dispatch, a center-right site founded by former Weekly Standard and National Review editors". Nieman Lab. Archived from the original on May 7, 2021. Retrieved April 12, 2021.
- ^ Balluck, Kyle (October 8, 2019). "Jonah Goldberg, Steve Hayes launch conservative media company The Dispatch". The Hill. Archived from the original on June 19, 2020. Retrieved September 24, 2020.
- ^ Ha, Anthony (March 17, 2020). "The Dispatch, a news organization built on Substack, passes $1M in annual revenue". TechCrunch. Archived from the original on April 13, 2021. Retrieved April 12, 2021.
- ^ Susca, Margot (April 27, 2020). "The Dispatch". International Fact-Checking Network. Archived from the original on April 20, 2021. Retrieved March 19, 2021.
- ^ "The Dispatch". International Fact-Checking Network. May 15, 2020. Archived from the original on April 20, 2021. Retrieved March 19, 2021.
- ^ Hayes, Steve (October 8, 2024). "Thank You". The Dispatch. Retrieved October 22, 2024.
- ^ Tracy, Marc (September 23, 2020). "Journalists Are Leaving the Noisy Internet for Your Email Inbox". The New York Times. Archived from the original on May 5, 2022. Retrieved September 24, 2020.
- ^ Mullin, Benjamin; Robertson, Katie (October 20, 2022). "Are We Past Peak Newsletter?". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on October 26, 2022. Retrieved October 26, 2022.
- ^ Hayes, Steve (January 6, 2021). "Giuliani to senator: "Just try to slow it down"". The Dispatch. Archived from the original on January 11, 2021. Retrieved January 8, 2021.
- ^ The Dispatch Staff (January 7, 2021). "Impeach Donald Trump, Remove Him, and Bar Him From Holding Office Ever Again". The Dispatch. Archived from the original on January 8, 2021. Retrieved January 8, 2021.
- ^ Goldberg, Jonah. "Get Ready for Angry Old Men Throwing Low Blows". gfile.thedispatch.com. Archived from the original on April 18, 2020. Retrieved May 8, 2020.
- ^ Joscelyn, Thomas. "How to Understand Our 'Great Power Competition' With China". vitalinterests.thedispatch.com. Archived from the original on June 18, 2020. Retrieved May 18, 2020.
- ^ Members (October 8, 2019). "The Dispatch Fact Check". thedispatch.com. Archived from the original on June 15, 2020. Retrieved June 16, 2020.
- ^ "Where We Have Fact-Checking". facebook.com. Archived from the original on July 28, 2020. Retrieved June 26, 2020.
- ^ Isgur, Sarah. "The Mop-Up, with Chris Stirewalt". sweep.thedispatch.com. Archived from the original on March 5, 2021. Retrieved April 9, 2021.
- ^ "Why I'm at the Dispatch". September 19, 2022. Archived from the original on September 24, 2022. Retrieved September 24, 2022.
- ^ "The Remnant Podcast". Jonah Goldberg. Archived from the original on May 18, 2020. Retrieved May 18, 2020.
- ^ Goldberg, Jonah. "Social Capital vs. Social Justice". remnant.thedispatch.com. Archived from the original on May 19, 2020. Retrieved May 18, 2020.
- ^ "A Better Conservative Media and a Better Politics". September 7, 2022. Archived from the original on September 24, 2022. Retrieved September 24, 2022.
- ^ "Kevin D. Williamson Joins the Dispatch". September 19, 2022. Archived from the original on September 24, 2022. Retrieved September 24, 2022.