The Dispatch

American online conservative magazine
Screenshot
The Dispatch's home page as of 2021
Type of site
Political journalism, political commentaryAvailable inEnglishCreated byStephen F. Hayes
Jonah Goldberg
Toby StockEditorsJonah Goldberg (editor-in-chief)
Rachael Larimore (managing editor)
David A. French (senior editor)
Chris Stirewalt (contributing editor)PresidentToby StockCEOStephen F. HayesRevenue$1.9 millionURLthedispatch.comCommercialYesRegistrationRequired for viewing some articles and for commentingLaunchedOctober 2019; 4 years ago (2019-10)

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.[1]

History

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 September 2020, The Dispatch had nearly 100,000 subscribers, with almost 18,000 of them paying for the full service. The company pulled in nearly $2 million in revenue during its first year, most of which was from Substack subscriptions.[5][12] The Dispatch was Substack's first media company.[7] In October 2022, the publication moved from Substack to its own website.[13]

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.[14] The next day, The Dispatch published an editorial calling for the impeachment and removal of President Trump.[15]

Content

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

  • The Morning Dispatch – a morning deep dive into the big political, and cultural stories of the day. Written by Declan Garvey and Esther Eaton.
  • The G-File – Jonah Goldberg's weekly Friday newsletter. There is also a paid Wednesday newsletter, nicknamed the "Hump Day Epistle."[16]
  • Vital Interests – a weekly newsletter focusing on threats to America's national security and interests around the globe.[17] It's 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."[18] The Dispatch is one of Facebook's 11 third-party fact-checking partners in the United States.[19] Written by Cameron Hilditch and edited by Rachael Larrimore 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.[20]
  • Capitolism – Scott Lincicome's weekly newsletter about federal economic policy.
  • Wanderland – Kevin D. Williamson's weekly newsletter.[21]

Podcasts

  • 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][22] 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".[23]
  • Advisory Opinions – podcast on law and culture with Sarah Isgur and David French.

Notable personnel

References

  1. ^ a b c Lippman, Daniel (November 19, 2019). "Sarah Isgur joins conservative media startup as staff writer". Politico. Retrieved 12 April 2021.
  2. ^ a b c Calderone, Michael. "Trump critics on the right join the media wars". Politico.
  3. ^ Coppins, McKay (January 31, 2020). "The Conservatives Trying to Ditch Fake News". The Atlantic. Retrieved 12 April 2021. The Dispatch produces "serious, factually grounded journalism for a conservative audience".
  4. ^ a b c d e f Coppins, McKay (January 31, 2020). "The Conservatives Trying to Ditch Fake News". The Atlantic. Retrieved 12 April 2021.
  5. ^ a b c d Allen, Mike (October 8, 2019). "Scoop: Steve Hayes and Jonah Goldberg to launch The Dispatch". Axios. Retrieved 12 April 2021.
  6. ^ 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. Retrieved 12 April 2021.
  7. ^ 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. Retrieved 12 April 2021.
  8. ^ Balluck, Kyle (October 8, 2019). "Jonah Goldberg, Steve Hayes launch conservative media company The Dispatch". The Hill. Retrieved 2020-09-24.
  9. ^ Ha, Anthony (March 17, 2020). "The Dispatch, a news organization built on Substack, passes $1M in annual revenue". TechCrunch. Retrieved 12 April 2021.
  10. ^ Susca, Margot (27 April 2020). "The Dispatch". International Fact-Checking Network. Retrieved 19 March 2021.
  11. ^ "The Dispatch". International Fact-Checking Network. 15 May 2020. Retrieved 19 March 2021.
  12. ^ Tracy, Marc (2020-09-23). "Journalists Are Leaving the Noisy Internet for Your Email Inbox". The New York Times. Retrieved 2020-09-24.
  13. ^ Mullin, Benjamin; Robertson, Katie (2022-10-20). "Are We Past Peak Newsletter?". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-10-26.
  14. ^ Hayes, Steve (January 6, 2021). "Giuliani to senator: "Just try to slow it down"". The Dispatch. Retrieved January 8, 2021.
  15. ^ The Dispatch Staff (7 January 2021). "Impeach Donald Trump, Remove Him, and Bar Him From Holding Office Ever Again". The Dispatch. Retrieved 8 January 2021.
  16. ^ Goldberg, Jonah. "Get Ready for Angry Old Men Throwing Low Blows". gfile.thedispatch.com. Retrieved 2020-05-08.
  17. ^ Joscelyn, Thomas. "How to Understand Our 'Great Power Competition' With China". vitalinterests.thedispatch.com. Retrieved 2020-05-18.
  18. ^ Members. "The Dispatch Fact Check". thedispatch.com. Retrieved 2020-06-16.
  19. ^ "Where We Have Fact-Checking". facebook.com. Retrieved 2020-06-26.
  20. ^ Isgur, Sarah. "The Mop-Up, with Chris Stirewalt". sweep.thedispatch.com. Retrieved 2021-04-09.
  21. ^ "Why I'm at the Dispatch". 19 September 2022.
  22. ^ "The Remnant Podcast". Jonah Goldberg. Retrieved 2020-05-18.
  23. ^ Goldberg, Jonah. "Social Capital vs. Social Justice". remnant.thedispatch.com. Retrieved 2020-05-18.
  24. ^ "A Better Conservative Media and a Better Politics". 7 September 2022.
  25. ^ "Kevin D. Williamson Joins the Dispatch". 19 September 2022.

External links

  • Official website