A new chapter for Wake Up To Politics

I’m taking a leap of faith.

Like any college senior, I spent a lot of time over the last year thinking about where I wanted my career to go next after graduation.

More than most of my peers, I’ve been lucky from a very young age to have found a genuine passion — informing people about our political system — and to have always known the city I wanted to do it in, here in Washington.

Still, even within that seemingly narrow lane, our crowded media environment meant that I was left with a lot of options for where to pursue the craft I’d fallen in love with. I met with editors at a range of publications and thought seriously about where I could most see myself and where I felt I could do my best work.

But, at the end of the day, I couldn’t shake a recurring feeling: I feel like I’ve built something special at Wake Up To Politics, and I’m just not ready to walk away from it.

We’re living in a time when trust in the media has plummeted to historic lows. The numbers are even worse among members of my generation, very few of whom are turning to traditional publications to get their news and information.

The sense that the media is biased is pervasive; at this point, very few outlets command the respect of both sides of the aisle. At the same time, our civics scores are dropping; many Americans (of all ages) don’t know key facts about our political system or its history.

When I founded this newsletter, I wanted to create a place that addressed both of these problems: somewhere people of all political stripes could come to, not to be told how to think — but to understand how their government worked. An outlet that wouldn’t yell and scream at you, but which would calmly explain the latest political developments and put them in a broader context. I wanted it to be accessible for all ages, and I wanted it to highlight the under-the-radar government actions (most of them bipartisan!) that other outlets often neglect.

I had no clue if that mission would resonate with a wider audience — but 13 years later, I’m proud to have gone from writing for one subscriber (hi, mom!) to nearly 40,000. It turns out that that model of understandable, non-partisan reporting and analysis was helpful for all kinds of people: educators who use the newsletter as a teaching tool in their classrooms, congressional staffers who use it to brief their bosses, media executives who use it to catch up on the day’s news, Roy Wood, Jr., Doug Emhoff, and everyone in between.

And I’m just not ready to stop. So, I’m excited to share that my next step after graduation will be working on Wake Up To Politics full-time and pursuing avenues for expansion. Starting today, the newsletter is moving to a new home, Substack. I will still be independent as ever — no ads, no corporate sponsors, fueled only by your support — but I can’t wait to start using the many tools Substack offers (including audio and video options) to expand on the core newsletter.

But, if this is going to work — I’m going to need your help. If you enjoy Wake Up To Politics and find value from my reporting and analysis, I hope you’ll consider becoming a paid subscriber:

I’ve never written this newsletter for the money, which is why I’ve done it for free for all these years. (In fact, the first time I started soliciting donations to the newsletter, I stopped the next day — and didn’t do so again for years — because I was so overwhelmed by the thought of receiving more than I might need.) But, now that I’m out on my own, if WUTP is going to be my full-time job, your support is going to be crucial.

Plus, there will be perks! For $8/month or $80/year, paid subscribers will now receive two exclusive offerings (with more to come):

• A new Sunday email, featuring a recap of the week’s news and my recommendations of the best pieces of journalism I read throughout the week.

• An invitation to join the Wake Up To Politics Book Club, featuring book reviews and interviews with a range of interesting authors.

Because I’m committed to keeping the majority of my work free for as long as it’s sustainable, all readers — free and paid — will continue to receive the core Monday-Friday newsletters. I considered putting the Friday newsletters, where I recap examples of government function, behind a paywall, but decided against it, because I feel like it’s the most important, civic-minded work I do each week and I want it to keep it accessible to all. If you have the means to do so, I hope you’ll consider subscribing to ensure that can continue.

I may only be 22, but I feel lucky to have had some amazing experiences in my reporting career, whether it’s taking you inside the Supreme Court or onto the grounds of Camp David, scooping a presidential run, covering the White House superspreader event, or getting questions answered by Joe Biden and Mitch McConnell.

But that kind of quality reporting costs money. Covering debates and conventions costs money. Rent costs money. Your support will enable me to continue providing the news that you rely on. (And it will mean my parents won’t be quite so nervous about me doing this!)

I know there’s a lot of money to be made shouting from one partisan camp or the other, but that just isn’t the role I want to play in our media ecosystem. Especially heading into a consequential election year, I would much rather spend my time providing with you with fair and honest deep-dive analyses, helping you understand the nuts and bolts of our political system, and doing what I can to puncture conventional wisdom narratives gone awry. (Here are two examples from the past few weeks, my newsletters on the truth about Gen Z and on whether American politics have ever been normal.) I want to be free from the economic incentives that push many media outlets to focus only on the doom and gloom; I also want to lift up positive stories — stories about things working — when those stories are there to tell.

Now that I’ve graduated, with your support, I’ll have a lot more time to do the kind of research, interviews, and on-the-ground reporting that those pieces require.

When I started this newsletter as a wide-eyed nine-year-old, I never would have thought I’d still be at it now. To be able to step into and cover the institutions I’ve long studied — and to be able to share what I’ve learned about a topic I love — has been a privilege I don’t take lightly. And none of it would have been possible without you, my readers, who have stuck with me and supported me every step of the way. I could never thank you all enough for your constant words of encouragement throughout middle school, high school, and now college and beyond. I truly cherish the personal connections I’ve built with many of you over email.

I’ll be honest: it’s been slightly intimidating watching all my classmates start jobs at different companies, knowing that I was taking this potentially risky path. But I truly believe that independent outlets will play a key role in the future of journalism at this crossroads for the industry. And I’m excited to be part of that future with Substack.

I can’t wait to hit the ground running and keep writing for you on a full-time basis — reporting independently, without fear or favor, and serving as your narrator and guide through the complex world of American politics. I hope you’ll join me for the ride.

With gratitude,

Gabe