The future of The Informant is in your hands

Hi, and welcome to The Informant, a publication covering hate and extremism in America, written and edited by me, Nick R. Martin.

Today is a big day.

It’s the day I’ve been talking about for a long time, one that will make or break the future of The Informant. Today I am asking you to support this publication by signing up for a paid subscription.

If you want to avoid my long-winded pitch and get straight to the details, here they are:

• Monthly subscriptions are $5.99. This will give you access to all my original reports and intelligence briefings as well as my archives. You will also have the satisfaction of knowing that you are supporting independent journalism on this vital topic.
• Annual subscriptions are $60. This will give you access to all my original reports and intelligence briefings as well as my archives at a lower cost. You get two months free off the monthly price. Plus, you’ll get the satisfaction of knowing you’re supporting independent journalism on this vital topic.
• Founding Member subscriptions are $180 annually. This premium tier is for people who deeply value The Informant and want to pay more. The suggested price is $180, but you’ll have the option of typing in a higher figure if you are so inclined. With this, you’ll get everything that’s included in the monthly and annual subscriptions. As a bonus, founding members will also receive occasional exclusive emails from me. That is a significant amount of money. But these are challenging days for the journalism business. If you are inclined and able to join at this Founding Member level, I pledge I will put those dollars to good use.
• Free subscriptions. Maybe you can’t afford to subscribe. I get it! Times are tough right now, especially because of COVID-19. Free subscribers will still get access to one original report a week and sometimes maybe more. All I ask is that you share the work with a friend or colleague and encourage them to sign up too.

If that wasn’t enough to convince you, maybe this will: This week, I’m giving away annual subscriptions at 25 percent off. That means you can get an annual subscription for just $45. But this offer expires on Saturday, so get on it!

The Informant will remain completely free for the next two weeks so you can have a little extra time to decide. If you stay on the free subscription plan, you’ll be getting a few extra emails from me during that period to try to convince you to pay.

Now, let me explain a little bit about why I’m doing this.

I’ve spent more than a decade reporting on hate groups and extremism. For the past seven months, I’ve poured my time, money, and energy into building a new publication dedicated to these topics. Two or three times a week, I’ve brought you investigative reports and intelligence briefings. My goal has been to demonstrate the value, quality and importance of what The Informant can be on my own dime in the hopes that readers will choose to subscribe and make The Informant a going concern.

In these seven months, I hope I’ve earned both your trust and respect. It’s challenging work. It requires rummaging around the ugliest corners of the internet and approaching people who would rather not speak to me. It sometimes requires digging through thousands of pages of public records to find the information I’m looking for. It requires time and, yes, money to do it right.

It also comes at personal risk. Since launching The Informant in January, I have been on the receiving end of harassment and death threats. A member of Congress called me “an enemy of the people.” But I look past these things and keep reporting because I believe the public desperately needs to know about the crisis of hate and extremism that we are facing.

I literally cannot do this without you. I’ve already racked up thousands of dollars in debt and eaten through what little retirement savings I had to get this publication off the ground. That’s how much I believe in it.

Now I need a critical mass of readers to come on board as subscribers. That will get you access to the whole publication like most subscriptions do. But it’s not only about access. You will be making this publication’s future possible.

Do you think it’s important for The Informant to exist? Do you think we need more fearless journalism on hate and extremism in America? Do you want to see this publication thrive and grow beyond what it is today? It’s literally in your hands. If the answer to any of these questions is yes, then I invite you to subscribe.

This is a publication totally dedicated to and dependent on readers. No advertisers. No major donors. It’s all up to you.

I took a big step in January by setting out on my own and launching The Informant. Now I hope you’ll have my back by signing up for a paid subscription. Let’s do this together.

Thank you.

P.S. — If you have any suggestions or story tips, please email me at nick@informant.news. If you have questions about billing, please email support+informant@substack.com.