A couple of weeks ago, we begged you, implored you, to help us pick a logo. I’m very grateful to the hundreds of LNI subscribers who voted. As a reminder, here’s the three concepts you chose from:
For the first two full days, it looked like Option 3 might take the lead. Over on YouTube, where I made a post, the comments mostly leaned towards Option 3 as well, with Option 2 just behind.
But it was very American of me to assume that the race was between just two candidates. It turns out, a third candidate can emerge and become the victor!
By the end of the week, it was clear we had our winner: Option 1. And so, our graphic designer, Sarah Hashemi, got to work. I’m not going to wait the whole newsletter to reveal the winner (I’m tempted!).
Instead, I will remind you that our little operation can’t work without your support.
Local and International members get all kinds of perks:
📌 Early access to newsletters and long-form videos
📌 Exclusive short-form videos only for members
📌 Exclusive quarterly Q&A’s
📌 Full archive access
📌 Dave (and Lola) stickers
📌 Access to our exclusive private Slack channel (International Tier)
I hope you’ll become a member today, or consider making a donation. And if you’re a student, you can sign up in the Hyper Local category, for just $5 a month!
Ok, here it is, the reveal of our logo! It also has a color now. I’m calling it Reptar Green (I picked it, so if you hate it, direct all emails to [email protected]).
I love it more than the latest season of Dexter, which far exceeded my expectations. And if you know me, that’s very high praise! It’s the opposite of season 2 and 3 of Yellowjackets, in which the writers seem to be literally and metaphorically lost in the woods.
Now, let’s get back to our regular programming for the Monday newsletter: addressing the challenges, benefits and obstacles of leaving your cushy billionaire-funded legacy media job to go independent.
This week’s topic: Companies buying Substacks for millions of dollars.
I do not know Bari Weiss. I’ve only read her when X, formerly Twitter, is angry at her. And now I’m not even on X, formerly Twitter. Partially, so I can stop saying things like “X, formerly Twitter.” I’m on Bluesky, which Nate Silver thinks is a fool’s errand for some reason, he even wrote about it on his Substack. I politely disagree and so does my blood pressure!
Because I’m not on X, formerly Twitter, I mostly avoided all the chatter surrounding Paramount’s plan to purchase Bari Weiss’ Substack for around $100 million, or up to $200 million if you read the New York Post (I don’t). So, please allow me to express my real-time shock, exasperation, amusement, confusion and slight jealousy at this development:
Look, I know that there is a lot of money to throw around, with over 1,000 billionaires in the United States alone, but even that’s a lot for Weiss’s Substack, The Free Press.
Oliver Darcy, our Media Collective buddy here at Beehiiv, already wrote a ton about this, including what it means for Paramount’s CBS News, as it veers right, in spite of its established audience. So I’ll leave that to him. It’s a great read.
Lol, love you buddy, you always make me smile.
Instead, let’s be honest and address my first thoughts. Would anyone ever want to buy LNI Media for $100 million? Would I want to sell? Would it be more likely for me to win the $$1.8 Powerball jackpot? (Spoiler alert: I lost to someone else in Missouri.)
Right now, right here, there’s no chance. This is exactly what I’ve wanted to do since I was a kid. I get to make weird, funny, informative content every day. And people watch it (that’s you! You’re the people!). We’re slowly building our own news network here and putting together the pieces to bring you a weekly, modern version of the Daily Show. It’s one of many reasons I’m truly grateful to all of you as subscribers. You’re here on the ground floor and you believe in it.
In the same article that Nate Silver deemed Bluesky unworthy of your time, he briefly spoke on ABC News dismantling his company FiveThirtyEight after purchasing it. What a depressing thought!
No, I’d much rather make something we all love and care about and stick with it until retirement. Or, you know, until Elon Musk’s brain chip connects me to a computer and forces me to get back on Twitter, formerly X.
Have a magical week. In case you missed it, here’s Friday’s video fact-checking RFK Jr’s testimony.
I’ll see you for the Friday newsletter, which breaks down every video posted from Monday through Thursday. We’re on pretty much every video platform now, including Snapchat!
LNI co-founder Lauren Saks informed me I’m now a “Snapchat Star” there, which basically means I can post about news and politics. My bitmoji was even updated for the first time since 2014! Judging by his new stance, I think the update gave him more sass:
Since you made it to the end, you obviously love the newsletter. Consider becoming a member today to support our independent journalism. As a local member, here’s what you’ll get:
📌 Early access to newsletters and long-form videos
📌 Exclusive short-form videos only for members
📌 Exclusive quarterly Q&A’s
📌 Full archive access
📌 Dave (and Lola) stickers
📌 Access to our exclusive private Slack channel (International Tier)
