The “folks don’t read long-form writing anymore” takes ignore the biggest change: paywalls. Podcasts, Tik Toks, and memes are free. Long-form, thoughtful writing is often prohibitively expensive. Articles need to be as accessible as possible if you want folks to appreciate the written word.

I keep my newsletter free for all. Those who can pay, do. Those who can’t afford to pay can also read everything. No one is priced out. If I can make this work as one woman in Missouri, why can’t giant corporations do it? Take down the paywalls for one week as an experiment and see if folks get more informed and start reading longer works again.

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