I've seen quite a few people griping about newsletters on Twitter, and I'd the people doing it to know that you have been heard, and also to cut it out. The complaints generally go like this: 1/10

"Newsletters are too long, and there are too many of them, and why can't they all be collected in one place like a, I don't know, 'newspaper' or something, hardy har har." 2/10

My long-term plan wasn't to run the Heavy Table as a newsletter, it was to get a cushy midlevel writing job at a major newspaper and hang out with the culture vultures until dying at my desk over a chili dog, leaving a sizable pension in my wake. 3/10

Enter three not-unrelated forces: Facebook (primarily) eating the ad budgets and eyeballs required to keep traditional journalism going. Big capital buying papers and magazines in order to strip them for parts and discard the carcasses... 4/10

And ever-pivoting metrics turning wordsmiths into amateur videographers into newly minted "multimedia storytellers" for "agencies." 5/10

It's been left to journalists to try to pick up the pieces. Locally, things like Sahan Journal and Minnesota Reformer and Discourse Blog are building a real foothood, even as existing institutions like the Star Tribune and MPR continue to do vital work. 6/10

The Heavy Table plan: thoroughly define our beat and become indispensable. Then: ally with other like-minded forces in different realms (politics, sports, crime, etc.) to create a plausible alternative, or expand into those realms on our own to diversify our offerings. 7/10

All done in a way that respects our readers first and foremost, and treats editors, writers, photographers, and illustrators as the talented professionals they are, and not as list-generating widgets holding the line until the AI can crank out the content automatically. 8/10

Now, I'm not unaware that train of logic has a tragic, John Henry-like ambiance to it, but I'm also fine with that, as I'm learning a tremendous amount, having a ton of fun, and working with amazing people in the process. 9/10

Anyhow, honestly, complain to me all you want and I'm happy to argue / sympathize / ask thoughtful questions all day. And if you're not getting the newsletter, why not? We're part of a brighter future, one that still wears a human face. 10/10 http://www.patreon.com/heavytable