I’m going to say something that shouldn’t be controversial but will be. If you are a Christian, you can support border control and immigration being legal vs illegal. You CANNOT celebrate deportations and get off on the cruelty, and be a real Christ follower. Period
Of course advance information on US combat operations is classified. Pretending otherwise is an insult to our troops, who all know this.
The Secretary is unfit to lead.
You made it, you own it
You always own your intellectual property, mailing list, and subscriber payments. With full editorial control and no gatekeepers, you can do the work you most believe in.
Your assessment of The Messenger is right on target. Digital news startups that have been successful, like eldiario.es in Spain, build slowly with small staffs that grow only when revenues suggest that people can be added. Or, like Gazeta Wyborzca on Poland, they transition from a big print subscriber base to digital with keen focus on audience needs and interests, when they align with those of the subscribers. At any rate, scale for scale's sake doesn't work any more. Now it's all about building intimate relationships with users. I'll be very interested in following your newsletter.