We are launching a new channel on Substack

As you know, we launched The Citizens Dispatch here on the Ghost platform without a paywall, preferring to keep our work free and open to all, and have asked for you to make donations to our mission if you can. While some of you were in a position to do that - we are deeply grateful for every contribution - sadly we still face a significant funding gap.

That is why we have made the decision to launch a subscriber-only offer on our new Substack, Citizens Reunited. But we will also continue to publish here without a paywall, so if you already donate, please read on till the end!

What does this mean?

From now on we will host live events on Substack; you can think of it as our broadcast channel - where you can use chat features and help us shape the agenda. Only paid subscribers on Substack will be able to watch the event live, contribute questions and use the live chat function to interact with speakers and viewers. 

But this doesn’t mean you won’t have access to the content. It will make its way over to Dispatch for free, after a few weeks. This is because ultimately we want to make sure our work finds its way to everyone, whether you are in a position to pay for it or not. Plus, since Ghost is a not-for-profit, with ethics we share, we very much want to keep up our efforts here. 

The content will also be a little different across the two platforms. 

Citizens Reunited on Substack will act as a broadcast channel for livestreamed events and content - along with a regular weekly action digest. 

Dispatch on Ghost will continue to do what it already does - providing you with investigations, features, Q&As, campaign updates and community event notifications.

There are 3 key reasons for this move. 

1. As you know, the funding landscape has shifted significantly since Musk and Trump took over Western democracy. US philanthropy, where we got the majority of our funding, is in free fall. Many of our colleagues across the tech justice space are in similar jeopardy, with layoffs underway. 

Our only chance to survive is to become a truly citizen-led and supported movement.

2. The risk to democracy is too high, and time is running out.
It’s paramount that we reach more people, hence we are launching a subscriber offer on Substack, which is already populated with activists, academics, journalists as well as readers. 

Ghost (where we publish this newsletter, The Citizens Dispatch) is an amazing Fediverse tool supporting a decentralised internet. It is growing strong, but has users in the multi-thousands, whereas Substack has an audience of multi-millions. Put simply, we need to rapidly scale up subscriptions if we want to survive, and we need to go where people are to build the movement.

3. There are significant differences in the features available on Ghost vs Substack, with the latter offering us the ability to collaborate with other Substackers, chat with our audience, and broadcast “Live” events where we can have faster, more responsive conversations with our experts. It is built to be dynamic and that’s what we need right now to scale our community, become sustainable and ultimately continue our campaigning and advocacy efforts. 

We hope that by providing you with excellent community connections and content we can inspire you to become a paid subscriber. 

What happens if I already donate?

For those of you who generously support us with donations already, expect a follow-up email shortly. You can, of course, have subscriber rights transferred across to Substack and we can discuss a few options on how best to do that. You have been our lifeline and we can’t thank you enough for all your support. 

💌 Early Bird Offer for Dispatch readers

To become a subscriber on our new Substack, Citizens Reunited, you can sign up here: citizensreunited.substack.com

As part of our early bird offer, Dispatch readers will get 15% off for the first year (OFFER HERE!). *Offer valid until 22nd May 2025.

For anyone who simply wants to donate to the mission, you can continue to do that here on Dispatch, where we will still be very active. Or here on our website.

Hopefully, see you at our subscriber events as well!