So some encouraging signs from our roll out of Prime AF (the new Ad Free version of Prime). In the first few days 2,090 readers have either joined or (in most cases) upgraded their existing Prime memberships to Prime AF. To all of you, thank you for being part of this. Subscriptions are the way an independent media organization can remain vital and alive and as little subject as possible to industry storms that have no inherent connection to its journalism or the dedication of its readers. We all see the scythes cutting through the staffs of other digital media organizations. This strategy has protected us from that fate. So if you have a moment, please join or upgrade your existing Prime account.
In late December I recommended one of my favorite recent books off my reading list – recent in this case meaning when I read them, not necessarily when they were published. That was Empires of the Word: A Language History of the World by Nicholas Oster. (You can see my review and recommendation here.) I’ve been casting about since and in the last week I’ve finally found a book on a related topic that has captured my interest: The Writing Revolution: Cuneiform to the Internet by Amalia E. Gnanadesikan. But what really prompted me to write this post was this poster I saw on Jason Kottke’s site.
I found Julian Sanchez’s argument here rather persuasive. It’s not Stone Mueller was most interested in. It was his electronic devices.
Today we’re starting what they call a soft rollout of Prime AF (Prime Ad Free). If you’re an existing Prime member I really hope you’ll upgrade your account. If you’re not a Prime member, maybe this will finally pull you over the edge. Ad Free is TPM, with every article with absolutely no ads ever. Anywhere. I’ll just say it. It’s really important and also awesome. Please upgrade.
If you’re already a Prime member, you don’t even have to take out your credit card. Just click here, click the option to upgrade to Prime AF at the upper right and then it’s one more button click and then no more ads on TPM ever.
If you’re not currently a subscriber it’s just a couple more steps. Just click here.
Upgrading to Prime AF is a critical part of keeping TPM vital and in the midst of a news publishing environment in which news publications announce more layoffs weekly.
Here’s what some of your fellow readers who’ve already signed up are saying.
“I upgraded this morning to Prime +. I didn’t believe that it would make much difference, since I was already a Prime member and there were very few ads, anyway But, to my surprise, reading the site without ads was more enjoyable. I didn’t realize that my mind would look at the ads, if for no other reason than to consciously skip past it. But, once I reviewed the site with the ads gone, increased the readability of the site.”
– LeMar B.
“I signed up for the ad-free version of TPM yesterday, and let me say it is worth it already. I have gigabit fiber to my house home (plug here for Sonic, if you’re in the Bay Area), so it was already pretty fast. But I had no idea the difference getting rids of ads would make. It is virtually instantaneous. Everyone should sign up.”
– Zach C.
“Oh wow, it took a little bit for it to sink in, but my TPM pages are totally ad free this morning! What a glorious and completely unique experience. Thank you for making Prime AF available.”
– Abigail B.
If you purchase an annual subscription to Prime AF before next Friday you get one month free.
Thank you for being our readers and for your dedication to our enterprise.
Trump administration tries to bypass appeals court and go straight to Supreme Court to get greenlight for adding citizenship question to the 2020 census.
We’re going to do a Breaking News Inside Briefing at 3 PM this afternoon to answer your questions about the Roger Stone indictments, the inclusion of Steve Bannon and possibly the President in the Wikileaks line of discussions. We’ll have me, TPM reporters and possibly some outside reporters on this case to dig into what it all means and answer your questions.
If you’re an Inside Subscriber, you’ll be receiving an email invite shortly. If you’re interested in joining us we now have monthly Inside memberships in addition to annual ones. Talk soon.
With Michael Cohen’s decision to postpone his testimony before Congress, people are starting to focus on President Trump’s repeated attacks on Cohen’s unnamed “father-in-law”. It is outrageous that a sitting President would repeatedly threaten anyone with legal action, especially in a case when it is done with the intention of squelching testimony against him. But this isn’t just out of the blue character assassination. Cohen’s father-in-law, Fima Shusterman, does have a criminal record (he pleaded guilty to money laundering related charges in the early 90s) and has reputed Russian/Ukraine organized crime connections that, critically, Trump appears to be connected to. There’s good reason to believe that it was Trump and Shusterman’s business ties, money flow ties, that is actually what brought Cohen into Trump’s world in the first place. I go into some detail about it here. Shusterman seems to be one of the links that ties Trump to the Russian money channels that are central to this entire story.
So we shouldn’t run after Trump’s character assassination. But this has always been part of the story that requires a lot more attention and scrutiny. As I said, more here.
Last evening I saw the news that Buzzfeed is laying off 15% of its staff, over 200 people. On the same day Verizon announced that it is cutting 7% of the staff at its media division (formerly known as Oath). That’s about 800 people. There’s another round of layoffs at Gannet, though the numbers there aren’t clear. This is all just news announced today. I run a much smaller operation. But each time I read these stories, which seem to come with increasing frequency, I feel both a chill of fear and an odd satisfaction that, at least for now, we’re bucking the trend.
Satisfaction isn’t quite the word for it. It’s more like what you feel if you’re sailing in very rough water, made a plan, stuck to the plan and at the other end of the voyage found you were still afloat. It’s not satisfaction. It’s more like ‘We’re still afloat and that’s much better than not being afloat.’ Maybe it’s relief.
I’d first written a more elaborate version of this post. But the point is simple. We’re here and not going anywhere because we have a super dedicated audience, one dedicated enough to subscribe and become members of our community. When you sign up for Prime or Prime AF or Inside, that’s the basis of our vitality as a publication. If you’re a subscriber, we’re here because of you. It’s that simple. Read More
Over the weekend I gave you my take on the incident at the Lincoln Memorial last Friday. As I argued, the original video that went viral lacked a good deal of context. But when you add in the context, the upshot is not dramatically different, an ugly interaction in which a gaggle of white teens, many in MAGA caps, taunt and jeer an impassive Native American man with ‘tomahawk chops’ amid various hoops and hollers. NBC News is now out with an interview with Nick Sandmann, the high schooler at the center of the drama. Sandmann’s “position”, as he calls it, is that he wasn’t disrespectful and that he didn’t do anything wrong.
Sandmann’s interview is of a piece with the statement he put out earlier in the week with the assistance (or probably actually written by) a GOP PR firm hired by his parents. Sandmann says he was simply trying to defuse the situation and wanted to listen to Phillips. Read More