ANNUAL REPORT: The Stories Your Support Funded in 2022

Plus: Subscribe now and save 50% off your first year supporting independent journalism in Alabama. Offer ends Monday, January 9.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

As we move into this new field and form of independent journalism, I believe it’s a good idea for writers and readers to pause at the end of each year to reflect upon and assess the project.

Thanks to you, during the first year of Alabama’s only reader-supported conservative journalism effort, we have:

• Revealed that 63% of all Republican lawmakers in Montgomery have taken a whopping $1.6 million from the teacher’s union (and named names),

• Uncovered a potential $48-$58 million waste of taxpayer dollars by the Alabama Department of Education for giving food stamps to parents who likely didn’t qualify for financial help,

• Unmasked the millionaires who used out-of-state political action committees with made-up names to funnel cash into Alabama’s U.S. Senate race,

• Exposed how one Alabama public school system had teachers and students use a diversity program from an organization that defined racism as an exclusively “white people” problem (and resulted in that definition being changed),

• Discovered that nobody knows who owns half of Alabama’s would-be casinos, creating a virtual Wild West of potential corruption,

• Showed how half of all babies in Alabama are now born to unwed mothers, and detailed the cost of such a cultural shift to our society,

• Published an extensive four-part series covering the lawsuit challenging the University of Alabama System’s “free speech zones” on campus,

• Calculated the real inflation rate of groceries and gas in Alabama, which was much higher than what the federal government said,

• Reported how murder suspects keep getting let out on low bail across Alabama, only to kill again while awaiting trial,

• Published a book detailing what the pro-life movement saw, said and did before Roe v. Wade was overturned,

• Shined a spotlight on how cancel culture came to one of Alabama’s most conservative campuses,

• Taught the fundamentals of conservatism and foundations of free speech, and shared those and many other insights across the state.

The number of paid subscribers is much higher than the industry standard, and the number of free subscribers who open, read, and share these stories is well above what’s normally seen in email newsletters, as well.

But this is about more than metrics — it’s about making a difference. And I can tell you, from the feedback I receive, and the changes I hear that are being made, this type of journalism is making a real difference out there.

I couldn’t have written those articles without the support of my paid subscribers, and I couldn’t continue doing that without them, either. So, today you can become one and get 50% off your first year of helping bring honest, conservative journalism to Alabama. Go ahead and sign up - this offer ends Monday, January 9, 2023.

But is a subscription worth it?

That all depends on what you care about.

Subscribing to my newsletter is about more than receiving an email with some information or articles. There are plenty of media outlets that do that, and many produce more content and at a higher frequency than I’m currently capable of.

Supporting my effort is different. It’s more like a donation to a cause than a transaction for a product.

The mainstream media didn’t cover most of those stories I mentioned above, and the state’s “conservative” media didn’t either.

Why?

Because they’re both captured by the people who pay their bills — powerful corporations and political interests that have distorted their ethics and demolished their integrity.

Or they’re just not that curious.

That’s where reader-supported journalism steps in.

That’s where you step in.

So if you believe we need honest and insightful information about the powerful forces that shape our world, then we need writers who are free to investigate and write about them, who are free from the editors and the owners and the boards who seek to control information … who seek to control the truth.

Subscribe today and you’ll be financially supporting an effort that’s free from all of that, and you’ll be joining a movement that’s changing the face of journalism in Alabama, and across America.

Meanwhile, Rachel and I wish you and your family a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. May many great and good things come your way in 2023!

(Rachel and Pepper Bryars, Christmas 2022)

Thank you!

Pepper