I’ve spent my life working in media, including (still) the online world. I’ve been a publisher, editor, photographer, gopher and janitor — whatever it took — at numerous print publications and then transitioned to online. I fully understand that like any business, DKos has to turn a profit or it disappears.
That’s just reality.
Like any regular DKOS reader, I’ve gotten all of the emails asking for support. And since I love this damn place, and know what a loss it would be if it went away, I responded with a monthly subscription years ago. First just a few dollars a month, and then during the run-up to the 2020 election, much more.
By no means am I wealthy, but I figure if I can afford a Netflix account, I can easily justify even more to keep DKos alive.
The labor problems and pending DKos layoffs make me think they need to do several things:
- Tell us how much the shortfall is. Make it a goal that we can contribute to and fix the problem. Hell, have one of those cheesy electronic donation counters like GoFundMe uses to such great effect.
- Stop soft-pedaling your pleas for money. We’re (mostly) grownups here and we know there ain’t no such thing as a free lunch (TANSTAAFL as Robert Heilein famously wrote). Are we talking $5 a month or $20 or more? What should a DKos subscription cost? Surely you’ve done the math on that.
- Sell some stuff! I would be thrilled to see some good, in-your-face physical products to wear or mount on the wall of my office. I can remember when there were DKos t-shirts for sale, but the design never appealed enough to me. Lots of creative artists here, so ask for submissions.
- Allow Ads. Some limited advertising would be appropriate even with a paid subscription. Your value as an advertising platform is your audience, so attempting to keep ads away from us is counterintuitive to your business goals. I have zero data to back it up — another diary idea — but progressives are likely to be better off financially than the regressives that fill the crazy QGOP coffers.
- Talk up progressive businesses. Howabout focusing a regular diary on outstanding and interesting businesses that support progressive causes? Penzey’s Spices and Minocqua Brewing are two that come to mind. (Note to self: I should do those two writeups . . .)
- Do the book! Not that you need even more to do, but if you’ve been delaying putting all of your Ukraine reporting into book format for resale, you’re missing a bet and an opportunity. Get a literary agent if you don’t yet have one, or any of many qualified freelance book editors who know how to turn piles of messy manuscripts into readable, publishable, packaged form. I’ve done exactly that myself many times. Definitely not rocket science.
- Publicize, publicize, publicize. Somebody should be assigned to getting more attention for DKos. I mainly hang out with other progressives and am continuously surprised how few even know about this website. I note that your Facebook group only has a few hundred members — and I didn’t even know there was a DKos Facebook page until I started writing this. Work social media for crying out loud! If some teenager can get a million views on TikTok, what’s stopping you? Constantly work on building your audience. There should be someone employed with that sole responsibility.
- There’s more, but you know what they say about the value of free advice.
Bottom line, none of us want to see this incredible website disappear. For many of us, this is where we spend an ungodly amount of time and we would be in mourning at its loss. It’s literally my first stop each morning as I begin my day. On DKos we learn things, make friends, have a community of like-minded people where we can openly talk about our sorrows and joys or release our frustrations at the current political landscape.
DKos is valuable. Whether Kos takes my suggestions or not, the corporate “they” must find ways to monetize (I hate that word, but it’s reality . . .) this unique and very special part of the digital world.
We can’t afford to lose you!
And if you want to subscribe, here’s the link: www.dailykos.com/...