Hey there. It’s Ally and Jonathan, the local City Editors you know and love. Allow us to pass the mic to 126 of our coworkers. (Yes, that’s right — an entire team is behind each day’s newsletter, and we couldn’t do it without them.)
We are 6AM City, the parent company of 608today. We are writers, account managers, sales execs, graphic designers, tech support specialists, growth marketers, managing editors, and much more. We’re the people on a mission to engage communities by aggregating the most positive, impactful local news and events into a free, daily email newsletter. Maybe you caught the magic word in there — free. We pride ourselves on the fact that we’re able to offer our product at no cost for subscribers, and we intend to keep it that way. This week, we’re pulling back the curtain and creating a new, annual opportunity for readers to support our local reporting.
We get hundreds of thank you emails every week, and we couldn’t be more grateful that we impact your lives. Several of you have asked how you can support us, and we thought now would be as good a time as ever to introduce a new way for you to say, “thank you.” We have a goal to raise $2,500 over the next 10 days. This is the one time a year we’ll ask for contributions, and we’re calling on you to join in.
It’s an election year, and we’re committed to maintaining our readers’ trust. Fun fact: We’ve turned down more than a million dollars in political ads since we first started — we’re that serious about our brand promise. We think reading about what’s going on in your city should be a positive experience, not something that rockets your blood pressure before you’ve even started your day.
If you know our newsletters, you know that you can count on us to keep your morning news unbiased and stress-free. As our company co-founder and CEO Ryan Johnston says, “We have chosen to cover the things that get us all excited and bring communities together, not push them further apart.”
And in the words of our VP of Editorial Erin McPherson: “Because we intentionally do not cover political news — but we do cover outcomes and decided-upon policies — we are better positioned to serve our readers news that actually impacts their daily lives, their experience in their cities, and their ability to inform, engage with, and participate in what's happening around them.”
A few reminders about us:
We curate local news. No matter which news outlet, community organization, small business, or reader breaks the story — the most positive local news and events worth your attention are curated into our daily newsletter. While our operations span multiple cities, our dedicated City Editors live, work, and play in Madison, carrying out our mission to highlight the incredible small businesses, non-profits, and city programs you want to hear about. So far in 2024, we’ve delivered more than 344 events and 656 news stories to the people of Madison — for free.
We impact readers’ lives. You may have gotten something out of being subscribed to 608today, like finding that life-changing concert in our Events section. Or using our recommendations on the perfect way to spend the day with grandkids. Or impressing your dinner guests with all the details of that new development going up. If that was you, we couldn’t be more honored to be a part of your life — and we’re calling on you now to help support our mission.
We listen to our employees. Some perks we’re proud to offer: All of our employees receive unlimited PTO. We cover wi-fi costs, since most of our employees work remote from their homes. We have a stipend for new parents. We match 401K contributions. And, fun fact, many of these initiatives were the result of surveying our employees for their feedback. By supporting us, you’re supporting a company culture that thinks intentionally about our workers and strives to provide as much support as we can.
We grow money on trees. Just kidding. While we have incredible advertising partners across all our communities that help to make this product free, it takes more to keep a modern media company healthy. In election years like 2024, advertisers move their money around — and those fluctuations impact businesses like ours who don’t accept political ad dollars. We know the challenges that legacy media companies have experienced, and we’re turning to our loyal readers to invest in our team. This year, your contribution will go incredibly far to support our staff, back an unbiased approach to local and participatory journalism, and keep our product free for the whole community.
Frankly, we love what we do. If you’ve felt the love for our product too, help us today with a one-time contribution that supports local journalism — delivered daily by the most positive publication in town.
