Survey says…

Readers reading readers … Elections to change elections … And deep fake trumps reality.

Thank you readers so much for rolling with our semi-vacation week where we talked about ourselves the whole time!

It worked…

Thursday evening, we hit our goal of a quarter-million in ongoing subscription revenue ahead of our birthday. 

You all are the best!

Thanks for the endorphins!

All week, we’ve been asking you to fill out a survey telling us what you like and don’t like about the Agenda, what we can do better, and your big ideas for new sections. 

If you haven’t filled it out yet, we still want to hear from you. 

We consider you subscribers our bosses. So part of this was an annual performance review. 

To be honest, you gave us better reviews than any employer we’ve ever worked for! (Goes to show that good bosses make good employees.)

• Two of you scored our performance as a 5 out of 10. (Admittedly not great, but also not the worst reviews we’ve ever received.) 

• Two of you said 7. (Ok, that leaves some room for improvement.)

• And 132 of you rated us as 8s, 9s, or 10s! (We also received a score of 90 out of 10 and a 69, but we’re not counting those.)

Your criticisms

We also sought your criticism, and boy, did you deliver. 

Just kidding. It was all very kind and thoughtful. 

Most of it centered around our general lefty leanings. But we particularly liked the comment from one reader who reminded us that showing is always better than telling. 

“Not call people names such as election deniers or insurrectionists. Even when I disagree vehemently with others, I want to understand them and their sincerely held beliefs. That is what I want out of journalism. I believe in the dignity of human beings including idiots. Ha! But true. I prefer facts that showcase how stupid they are -to a conclusion told to me.”

We hear you. We try to apply our scorn fairly — if not always equally — but we’ll try a little harder. 

Thanks for the reminder. 

The Common Complaints

Three of you complained about the footnotes being at the bottom of the email. And you weren’t even the first three. 

We would love to move them — as well as make other major changes to the newsletter layout — but Substack’s design tools are very limited. It’s one of the several reasons we’re seriously considering other newsletter providers. 

You all also don’t like the color of the links, that you can’t click on and see social media embeds if you don’t have an account, and that other news organizations that we link to use a paywall. But there’s not much we can do with those problems. 

Mixed Reviews

Some of our ideas are very polarizing. We’ve told you about the love/hate relationship our audience has with our art intern, ChatGPT. 

But the Drinking With Politicians series is an equally hot-button issue. Three of you mentioned loving it. Two hate it. 

Our view is as long as people are talking about it (and it’s at least 50% popular) it’s worth doing. 

Plus, it’s fun! Come have a drink with us next time, haters!

Stories you Remembered

One of our big questions going into this survey was simply: What sticks? What are those stories that people liked enough to actually remember?

Our primary prepping series was wildly popular, apparently. Good to know! We’ll do more of that kind of thing. 

Also, our primary election prediction game came up a lot, as did our analysis of the Legislative races to watch for November. 

“As someone who has been in the political community for awhile, I found the (November race) summaries on point with a lot of the other conversations I've had with consultants, lobbyists, and elected officials,” one subscriber wrote. 

And you readers love stories about politicians behaving badly. Luckily, so do we!

“I like hearing about the kooky stuff elected people say and do. Like the nutty lady who threated to throw a lobbyist off a balcony,” as one reader put it.

What you want

You all want more Agenda, that much is clear. 

More Agenda-like coverage of cities and towns. More coverage from outside Maricopa County. More about water. More about Gov. Katie Hobbs. An evening edition.

We love that you’re demanding more. 

We’d love to do all of that. But please keep in mind, this already a lot of work for two people. 

More coverage, more beats, more scoops, explainers and exposés all require more resources. 

We’re willing to put in the work if you are.

Our Biggest Failure

Two of you said we’re hard to reach. Sorry! 

We get so many emails, texts, calls, DMs, snail mail, voice memos and encrypted messages on so many channels that sometimes your notes fall through the cracks. 

But we really do love hearing from you.

For what it’s worth, we read every comment, even if we don’t heart them all. 

And you can reach us directly at Hank@arizonaagenda.com or Nicole@arizonaagenda.com and send your general messages to info@arizonaagenda.com.

Notched another win: In their third legal victory, backers of the Make Elections Fair initiative officially gathered more than enough signatures to make the November ballot, Capitol scribe Howie Fischer reports. Foes of the initiative, which would revamp primary elections so every registered voter can vote for any candidate, have filed an appeal. 

Too tempting?: The flood of federal dollars to a nonprofit in Tucson that cared for thousands of asylum seekers may have led to graft and the ousting of the nonprofit’s top two people, Gabb Schivone reports for the New Republic. 

Don’t expect much change: A judge said Gov. Katie Hobbs can’t use the same gambit she used last year to get around the Senate committee that vets (and mostly rejects) her nominees to run state agencies. But the stalemate between Hobbs and GOP lawmakers isn’t exactly resolved, Fischer reports. GOP lawmakers say if Hobbs wants an easier time next legislative session, she should send different nominees. But Hobbs says she’s planning to re-send the same nominations that stalled last year. 

Nuts and bolts: Former U.S. Attorney for Arizona Paul Charlton explains the nuances of the fake electors case to KJZZ’s Mark Brodie. Charlton breaks down the thinking that led prosecutors to discourage the grand jury from charging former President Donald Trump, what he expects to see in the case, and more. 

Shifting responsibility: Sports betting is all over the Arizona State University campus, and it’s hard on the athletes at the heart of it all, Cronkite News’ Mateo Arenas reports. ASU Athletic Director Graham Rossini said athletes aren’t allowed to bet, but they constantly get blamed by fellow students who lose money on them. 

“They’re getting harassed, they’re getting these awful messages on,‘How did you drop this pass? What a terrible play, you cost me hundreds of dollars and I can’t pay rent this month,’” Rossini said. 

Just keeps going: An Arizona Republic story earlier this month set off a cascade of consequences for state officials, and the latest is Superintendent Tom Horne who will appear before a legislative audit committee next month to answer questions about the $29 million the state almost lost out on, KJZZ’s Wayne Schutsky reports. 

A legislative audit committee doesn’t have
to investigate our finances because we’re so
transparent about them.

It’s not in your head: Phoenix is on pace to have its hottest summer on record, Axios Phoenix’s Jessica Boehm reports. The city hit 80 straight days of triple-digit temperatures on Wednesday, with no end in sight, and the average temperature is two degrees higher than last summer’s record-setting 97 degrees.

You may have seen the trending AI deep fake video of Donald Trump and Elon Musk dancing. 

It’s kind of cute. 

But watching them dance in real life? 

Not so cute.