Re: Should Daily Kos go public?

Friend, turns out, Buzzfeed's attempt to bring in more revenue by going public wasn't the best move. This week, Buzzfeed [announced]( the departure of three of their top news editors before further cuts to their newsroom. The top editor said in an email that "BuzzFeed had subsidized the news division for many years and that the “next phase” for BuzzFeed News was to reach profitability in its own right." Over the last decade, Big Tech like Amazon and Google have sucked up more and more of the advertising revenue that media companies count on. Facebook changed its algorithm, reducing traffic and therefore, revenue to mainstream outlets while allowing extremist outlets to flourish. Some media companies were acquired by some bigger corporation, found a billionaire backer, put up a paywall, or in the case of Buzzfeed this week, became a publicly traded company. Daily Kos is proud to be the country's largest independent, progressive news and activism hub—and we couldn't do that without you, friend. That makes us accountable to you, and the thousands of readers and activists who support our work by giving a few bucks at a time—not with a paywall that not everyone can afford, not to some billionaire with their own agenda, and not with shareholders and investors more concerned about the bottom line than quality, effective work. [Small contributions from readers and activists like you are our biggest source of income. That's why I'm asking you to start a $5 monthly recurring contribution to Daily Kos right now. It is the single most powerful thing you can do to support our work.]( [Can't contribute monthly? Click here to chip in $5 one time.]( Thanks for all you do, Amanda McKay, Daily Kos --------------------------------------------------------------- Friend, the news media has been hemorrhaging revenue and jobs for more than a decade. You know the tricks they've tried to stay in business: paywalls, selling out to large corporations, corporate sponsored content, and bailouts from billionaire backers with agendas to push. The latest attempt to find an influx of cash is to go public. This week, the digital media outlet [Buzzfeed]( did just that, as the company went public through a finance vehicle known as a SPAC. Years ago, Buzzfeed's CEO said that its news department was a money loser, but felt that it was important enough to be subsidized. That is, until 2019, when it laid off about 15 percent of its staff. Buzzfeed going public is another attempt to stymie the loss of revenue. Daily Kos is not immune to the pressures that other media companies face. A decade ago, we faced the tough decision of possibly laying off staff and cutting departments. Instead, we reached out to our readers and activists and asked for support. Today, nearly half of our revenue comes from small dollar donations from our community; that makes us accountable to you, our readers and activists, not shareholders and investors. [Daily Kos still needs to raise $63,453 to close the books on 2021. Can you support our work by donating $5 today?]( [DONATE]( Thanks for all you do, Amanda McKay, Daily Kos If you wish to donate by mail instead, please send a check to Daily Kos, PO Box 70036, Oakland, CA, 94612. Contributions to Daily Kos are not tax deductible. (Please note that we may be slow to process checks during the coronavirus outbreak.) Sent via [ActionNetwork.org](. To update your email address, change your name or address, or to stop receiving emails from Daily Kos, please [click here](.