COURIER's Path Ahead: Our Coverage in the Second Trump Era
Like many of you, I have watched the first weeks of the Trump administration play out with a dizzying degree of anger and shock - not about the actions they’re taking (they told us they would do all of this!), but more just how quickly they are moving, and how generally unprepared too many Democratic leaders appear to be. Far-right extremists, corporate oligarchs, and their 19-year-old minions have taken total control of the federal government and are rapidly dismantling the essential functions of our democratic institutions that Americans have long enjoyed and taken for granted.
Violent insurrectionists have been freed from prison and given unconditional pardons, while former Biden and Trump officials like Dr. Fauci and John Bolton have been stripped of their security details. Conspiracy theorists have been given seats of honor in the highest offices in the land. Our closest allies have been threatened and scapegoated. Entire government agencies are being eliminated, and the careers and livelihoods of tens of thousands of Americans are being destroyed by a handful of unelected partisans. Corrupt billionaires have staged a literal coup on our system and are now in control of writing the rules for their own industries - and they’re using our Social Security numbers and other personal data to write the damn code for them.
America is in crisis - the kind of constitutional and existential crisis many of us understood would be the result if Democrats lost the election.
At the same time, progressives and those who seek to protect some of our most basic freedoms and institutions have failed to find their footing. “The Resistance” energy of 2017 has evaporated, advocacy organizations have become disastrously underfunded and insular, and with too few exceptions, elected Democratic leaders in Washington have been blinded by a gerontocracy and coastal elitism that is blocking their - and all of our - paths out of the wilderness. The mainstream, legacy media reaches fewer Americans than it ever has and is struggling to focus amid an unrelenting flood of illegal and unconstitutional Trump administration actions - including lawsuits and attacks on their own houses.
As a result, the vast majority of Americans are left behind, tuned out, confused, and exhausted. They may hear about one or two things happening in Washington and shrug it off or keep swiping. Maybe they’ll see a way-too-polished and poll-tested political commercial and leave the room or change the channel. When they do seek out news of what’s happening, more often than not, they hit a paywall and just give up, or spend a few mindless hours watching videos on Tiktok.
I have always said that good information is the lifeblood of democracy. In these times of mass chaos and confusion, our new MAGA overlords in Washington are relying on apathy, ignorance, and emotional defeat to allow them to proceed with their work. In the last election, Donald Trump overwhelmingly won voters in places lacking reliable local news outlets. Our most critical task right now is to ensure Americans of all stripes are reached with timely, actionable information about the most important news of the day (and not every stunt Trump pulls), in the formats and on the platforms where they spend their time. That may look like a short creator-driven explainer on TikTok (or 50), a swipeable carousel on Instagram, a long-form podcast conversation on YouTube, or a must-read newsletter.
COURIER is one of several fast-growing, values-driven, non-abiding media organizations dedicated to using these tools to tackle this crisis of information and apathy head-on.
In this new era, it’s more important than ever that COURIER doubles down on its successes and recommits to its larger mission of reaching those left behind by traditional news by investing deeply in new platforms, formats, and programming in 2025. This moment also brings to a brighter light the values that center everything we do at COURIER because, unlike so many traditional news outlets, we will never - and I mean never - capitulate or cow to a corrupt ruling party intent on stripping Americans of our rights, freedoms, and democracy.
So in this deeply uncertain and fairly terrifying new chapter in America’s story, our fearless and mission-driven team of reporters, editors, content producers, social media strategists and correspondents are committed to the following:
We will tirelessly cover what’s really happening in the White House & Congress and how it impacts Americans directly
We will boldly, and without fear or favor, oppose authoritarianism, oligarchy, and corruption in all forms
We will keep audiences informed of what’s happening in their local and state government and elections
We will lift up new voices of leadership in the anti-MAGA and progressive movement, and we will call out the failures and missed opportunities of establishment Democrats to promote, elevate, or endorse younger, diverse and representative leaders, solutions, or ideas
We will call out the establishment’s failures on both sides to meaningfully communicate, connect with, and represent the tens of millions of Americans left behind by the elite media and political class
We will work to protect and expand the human rights, freedoms, and economic opportunities of all Americans, without exception
In the past year, our digital news network has opened new local newsrooms from Texas to New Hampshire, built an audience of nearly 6 million subscribers and followers, and become a daily leading source of news and information in the feeds of millions of younger Americans on TikTok and Instagram. We’ve humanized complex stories about government, interviewed rising elected officials and movement leaders and built news-adjacent, cultural products that audiences actually want to consume.
Looking ahead, in addition to expanding our local news network and national outlet, we also plan to invest significantly in new cultural content and talent-driven programming that expands our footprint and impact to both new geographic markets and niche-interest audiences. To reach more Americans who “opt-out” of the news altogether, it is critical COURIER creates a full spectrum of content from entertainment and lifestyle products to local news and political beats that provide them with the content they want to consume, on their terms.
This new Trump era will present no shortage of daunting challenges for all of us. It is my sincere hope that we will collectively also seize the opportunities this moment provides to listen more to the communities we exist to serve, and to invest in the bigger, bolder, and braver solutions to the numerous crises our nation faces - solutions that will last much longer than Donald Trump’s presidency.