🚨 Axios expands!

Axios CEO Jim VandeHei here...We want to thank you for believing in Axios, and to share our plans for expanding dramatically into local journalism.

Axios Local By Jim VandeHei · January 1, 2022 👋 Axios CEO Jim VandeHei here... We want to thank you for believing in Axios, and to share our plans for expanding dramatically into local journalism. Below is our manifesto on how together we can try to solve a massive societal problem: the death of trusted news in America's cities and towns.  This special edition is 671 words, a 2.5-minute read. 1 big thing: A new, modern daily miracle   Visual: Danielle Alberti / Axios We want to bring smart, modern, trustworthy local news to every community in America. This sounds insanely ambitious (or just insane). But you don't solve gigantic societal and business problems by thinking small. Why it matters: Everyone needs — and deserves — high-quality reporting to understand the changes unfolding fast where they live. Axios Local is the solution, elegantly delivered to your smartphone.   Zoom out: We created Politico in 2007 and Axios in 2017, and believe this project will be our most important journalistic legacy if we nail it. This is a high-risk, high-reward proposition. We want others to learn from our successes and our stumbles. So we will regularly update anyone who's interested in what's working and what's not. Sign up here for regular updates.  2. Our theory of the case    Visual: Axios Every city and town is reinventing itself (or being reluctantly reinvented) thanks to technology and the explosion of work-from-anywhere possibilities. Think of the change unfolding in your backyard — where and how you work, where you live, how you communicate, travel, study, eat, work out, stay informed. Why it matters: Axios Local unleashes local reporters to narrate this change and cover the economic, social and political implications. Each city is covered by locals, for locals.   The big picture: Better informed people make better decisions — and do more good for their neighbors.  In this era of mistrust and public meanness, our aim is to serve ALL readers in a clinical, nonideological, helpful way. Hey, skeptics! If you have lost faith in media, we ask you to sign up for Axios when we hit your city, and email us if you feel we are not living up to this aspiration. Just hit reply to the newsletter, or email me at  jim@axios.com. 3. Why Axios, why now   Visual: Axios Local reporting has been obliterated by technology, private-equity cash and new consumer habits.    Why it matters: Too many falsely assume local reporting can't be revitalized profitably. This CAN be done if: You meet readers' needs. Put your investment into people, not paper and property. Create a new, healthy daily habit. Scale up reporters as revenue rises. Spread to smaller cities and towns once the formula is perfected. The big picture: That's the Axios blueprint we are testing in 14 cities now and in 25 by mid-2022 — and 100 soon thereafter. (Click here for full list of cities.) 4. What readers get   Visual: Axios Design Axios will break news, spotlight important trends, hold local officials accountable and offer essential tips for navigating your hometown.    Why it matters: The idea is to make you smarter and smile — and be worthy of your time and trust. We do this with: A daily newsletter, written by top local reporters. Vital journalism through a clean, focused, local website. Breaking news alerts. Smart guides for schools, real estate, business and more. A new way to find top jobs.  5. How you can help   We cannot do this without you: Saving American journalism and reconnecting communities will take heroic work by us, readers, businesses and curious, motivated citizens.  Sign up for our FREE newsletters if you live in or have deep interest in our cities. Already a subscriber? Tell your friends. If you're a great local journalist interested in joining our crusade, email Danielle Jones at dj@axios.com. If you run a business, advertise. You'll find our ads are the most effective in media. Email fabricio@axios.com if you have questions. If you're a philanthropist, we welcome clever ideas for bringing this concept to smaller towns, especially news deserts, faster. Email me — jim@axios.com — with thoughts. Become an Axios Local Member — all donations flow straight to local journalism. For more information, check out the Local website for your city and click on the Membership link in the top navigation bar. 🎆 We promise to be worthy of your time and trust. Happy 2022.   Axios, 3100 Clarendon B‌lvd, Suite 1300, Arlington VA 22201   You received this email because you signed up for newsletters from Axios. Change your preferences or unsubscribe here.   Follow Axios on social media: