Running a media company in 2026 sucks, and we\u2019re not immune.<\/p>\n
We\u2019ve run a deficit every year since 2021, the last year Daily Kos turned a profit. Joe Biden winning the presidency in 2020 was a major hit to our engagement and financial support. There was a \u201cPhew, glad that nightmare is over!\u201d national vibe\u2014I get it. Those first four years of Trump and COVID-19 were exhausting. I\u2019m still tired from all that.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Donald Trump\u2019s win in 2024 was even more devastating. People have nope\u2019d out of politics, and I don\u2019t blame them! But when readers check out, our revenue checks out with them. Those are the roots of our current financial predicament.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And it\u2019s not just that readers have left. The economics of this business have changed dramatically. Advertising and email list building once accounted for more than 60% of Daily Kos revenue. Today, they account for roughly 10%.<\/p>\n
As a result, we fell more than $750,000 short last year, and this year is tracking roughly the same. This is an ongoing trend, and it obviously can\u2019t continue.<\/p>\n
We\u2019ve spent the past several years cutting expenses, including painful staff reductions, from 95 people to around 30. We\u2019re now at a point where there simply isn\u2019t anything left to cut without gutting what Daily Kos is and what we do.<\/p>\n
I won\u2019t put a date on it, but I\u2019m also not going to run this thing into the ground for the pleasure of watching it die. Either readers fund it, or I close it while it still means something.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m dead serious.<\/p>\n
There is no magical business model waiting to rescue us. So we either build a reader-supported Daily Kos that is financially sustainable, or eventually Daily Kos won\u2019t be here anymore.<\/p>\n
And that\u2019s where you come in.<\/p>\n
This fall, we\u2019re rebuilding Daily Kos subscriptions. Earlier this year, we gave thousands of readers six months of subscription benefits for free, and those trials begin expiring in November. We already know that an ad-free Daily Kos is a major draw. But we want a subscription to offer more than that, with new benefits built specifically for the Daily Kos community.<\/p>\n
What those benefits will be? Help us figure it out! We want to know what you would value enough to pay for.<\/p>\n
We put together a six-question survey<\/a>. It should take about two or three minutes, and everyone who completes it will get 20% off at the Daily Kos store.<\/p>\n And don\u2019t limit yourself to the choices we thought of. If there\u2019s something you\u2019d value that isn\u2019t in the survey, tell us in the comments. Maybe it\u2019s additional site features. Maybe it\u2019s special access or events. Maybe it\u2019s something we haven\u2019t considered at all.<\/p>\n If you subscribe to other sites, what motivates you to do so? There are lessons we can learn from your existing habits.<\/p>\n If you subscribed to Daily Kos before and have since canceled, please share the reasons why. More importantly, what would make you resubscribe?\u00a0<\/p>\n I do have one request about that discussion. I know any Daily Kos story asking readers what they think can quickly turn into an airing of grievances about the site. There are plenty of places to have those conversations, and criticism is fair game. But that isn\u2019t what this particular conversation is for.<\/p>\n This is for people who value Daily Kos, want it to continue to exist, and want to help us figure out how to make that financially possible.<\/p>\n So please approach it in that spirit: What could we offer that would make a Daily Kos subscription worth paying for? What would make you excited to subscribe? What would make you stick around once a free trial ended?<\/p>\n The survey closes Sept. 11\u2014which, conveniently, is my birthday. If you want to give me something, give me two minutes of your time and tell us what you think.<\/p>\n