Bloodbath at the Republic
Please don't let us be next...
Hey readers,
We're supposed to be on vacation1 this week, but we just heard some very bad news.
The corporate morons at Gannett have offered another round of buyouts to their top talent at the Republic — and we're losing some of the best reporters and columnists in Arizona.
Among those that got bought out is "Agendie" winner and Arizona treasure Mary Jo Pitzl. Plus, we hear the list includes columnists Laurie Roberts, EJ Montini, Elvia Diaz, Phil Boas, among others.
This news comes on the heels of the Republic announcing it will no longer print its paper in Arizona. And a bloodbath at the News Media Corp, which abruptly announced last week that it was shuttering five rural papers in Arizona.
It has been a terrible week for journalism in Arizona.
But you can help fight back.
And look, we don't love pitching off the slow death of the state's major daily newspaper. Or the slow death of our industry.
But it's happening. And not talking about it helps nobody.
We're a tiny, subscriber-funded news organization that's trying to fill in the cracks left as the big institutions crumble. But those cracks are getting bigger.
We'd argue that the Agenda is more necessary than ever.
But we're also more financially strapped than ever.
Why we deserve your money
First of all, every penny goes straight back into producing local journalism.
We've spent a lot of money in the last two years bringing in new voices, launching new publications and trying new things.
When the daily paper in Tucson laid off a quarter of its remaining staff in 2023, we launched the Tucson Agenda to help keep Tucsonans informed.
But it's still not actually profitable.
We've seen critical reporting drop off on some of the state's most important issues, like water and education. And nobody's covering how Arizona deals with the rise of artificial intelligence, arguably the biggest looming threat to humanity (and our water and education system).
So in January, we launched three new weekly publications focusing exclusively on those critical issues.
Subscribe to the Education Agenda, the Water Agenda and the A.I. Agenda.
But it takes a long time to build an audience. And they're still costing us money, too.
While we're very proud of what we've built, we're still barely scraping by. Every payroll is terrifying. And this is a startup — meaning we all work way, way harder than we ever have in a traditional newsroom job.
The fact is, the Agenda may not exist in a year.
We don’t want to be gloom and doom about this. We have high hopes for the future, and there are enough of you dedicated readers to ensure the Agenda could probably exist forever in some form or another.
But at the end of the day, if we can't afford to pay ourselves enough to survive (be somewhat comfortable, even?), if we can't keep having fun, trying new things and paving the way for the next wave of journalist-controlled newsrooms, then it simply isn't worth doing.
It sucks, but it's the truth.
So how can you help?
Unlike a lot of the local news publications you depend on, the Agenda isn't bankrolled by big philanthropic foundations.
We're a "subscriber-first" journalism outfit, and we don't think "philanthropist-first" journalism is going to save our industry. Plus, every journalism grant comes with strings, and we fucking hate strings.
We do it this way because it allows us to be truly independent.
But that means we count on you — our dedicated readers — to pitch in.
If you're a free subscriber who reads the Agenda regularly and you can afford to pay for your subscription, please upgrade to a paid subscription.
Paid subscriptions account for over 90% of our budget.
If you used to pay and don't anymore, please renew your paid subscription.
If you're a paid subscriber who loves the Agenda and can afford to do more, please consider upgrading to a founding member subscription. (You can pick any price above the regular price.)
If you’re not sure if you’re a paid subscriber or not, just go to the settings page to check.
And if you work in an office or volunteer at an organization that reads the Agenda regularly, please get a group subscription for the whole crew.
And if you can't afford to chip in, you can help by telling friends about the Agenda: forward our emails, or post about us on your hellscape of choice.
Anyway, pour one out for our friends at the Republic. And please pay for your subscription so we're not next.
Vacation in our world just means working on projects.
Those are the columnists I read regularly in the Republic. (Az central). Those people are the old guard with historical knowledge of the state of Arizona. It’s back to the Repulsive, if it’s back at all. If we lose Horizon on Friday for the journalist round table, we lose. It’s tragic. Thanks for the information and coming off your vacation. It’s a dark time for honest information.
As one of The Arizona Republic staffers who will soon be departing, I think it's important to note that I was not forced out but instead chose what struck me as an attractive deal. No blood was shed on my part, nor on that of other colleagues, as best I can tell.
The company's buyout offer was voluntary and open to all staffers, regardless of age or years served. For folks like me, who have long tenures at the newspaper, it helped settle the question of when to leave. After all, we can't work forever (with apologies to Capitol Media's Howie Fischer).
As someone who is fast approaching her 45th anniversary with The Republic, isn't that long enough? I'm pretty sure I would have been welcome to stay, but I want a less hectic schedule. I'm not retiring, just stepping aside and curious to see what the next chapter brings.
I'll keep my subscriptions to both The Republic and the Agenda, because local news is important and subscriptions are vital to the financial status of both publications.