24sight News
24sight News
The political news start-up joins the burgeoning field of independent, reporter-owned media
BREAKING: 24sight News officially launches today on Substack, introducing a news organization that brings much-needed independence to its coverage of American politics and power. 24sight News relies on shoe-leather reporting and scoops to tell the story of an epochal moment in our nation’s history.
As the old model of journalism is dying. This is the new way — scrappy, agile, bold.
The behemoth institutions breathlessly chasing clicks rather than news are failing and a better, bolder model is rising. One where the media company is worker-led and owned, and the stories are doggedly and ethically reported and clearly written. 24sight News is proudly part of this vanguard.
Somehow, three decades into the digital era, legacy media is still struggling to figure out its way forward. We are two veteran reporters and survivors of that downward spiral who had decided that our most recent layoff would be our last.
We’re now building a strong, sustainable news outlet from the ground up, and we need the support of paying subscribers to bolster our new community.
We broke news for The Associated Press, Business Insider, CNN and more. Covering Congress, the White House, multiple statehouses and the 2016, 2020 and 2024 presidential campaigns.
Tom LoBianco, national politics reporter and co-founder, has covered former president Donald Trump since 2015 and former Vice President Mike Pence since 2011 (He wrote the 2019 biography of Pence, “Piety & Power: Mike Pence and the Taking of the White House.”)
Warren Rojas, Washington correspondent and co-founder, has covered the policy and politics that get House and Senate leaders fired up, breaking down complex issues ranging from George W. Bush’s polarizing 2001 tax cuts to the historic ouster of short-lived Speaker Kevin McCarthy. He’s also been front and center at multiple presidential nominating conventions (2004, 2012) and crisscrossed the country to help readers make sense of critical state and federal races (2016-present).
Many of us are charting a new path in the world of independent media, with the help of Substack and other platforms that see the need for news, not noise. Substack is providing the tools and support; we’re shaping the vision.
24sight News is inspired by the likes of 404 Media, Defector, Punchbowl News, and others — fellow reporters who set out on their own and are proving it is possible to build thriving news outlets, free from the interference of hedge funds and venture capitalists more interested in outrage than gravitas.
Corporate greed has been a disaster for decades, creating news deserts and elevating performance art over good governance everywhere from rural Indiana to the White House.
24sight News has a better idea: report on what matters. The meat of the historic Supreme Court arguments on “presidential immunity”, the fight over abortion rights, the nuance of America’s immigration battles and the most important presidential race in our lifetime.
At 24sight News we will shine a light on the secrets power brokers strive to keep hidden, cut through the partisan demagoguery to show what will actually happen and air the voices of sane, clear-minded players shaping this tumultuous era.
Some of the thornier issues we are reporting on include:
What will the next four years look like after the November elections?
What does President Joe Biden need to do to bring progressives who’ve split with him because of the Israel-Hamas war back into the fold in a second term?
How would former President Donald Trump actually build immigrant detention camps and deport millions of asylum-seeking refugees?
What will be the make-or-break issue — Abortion? The economy? Preserving Democracy? — that mobilizes swing-state voters this fall?
We talk to the people who call the shots.
Real power does not announce itself, much less its designs.
That’s where 24sight News comes in.
WHAT’S NEXT
We’re crashing the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee (July 15-18) and Democratic National Convention in Chicago (August 19-22), engaging with politicos, campaign advisors and the voters who will decide the shape of our country.
We’re heading to the battleground states whose marquee races could flip control of the GOP-led House, the Democrat-led Senate — or both — as constituents pass judgment on the narrowly divided 118th Congress.
Our name harkens back to the need for clarity and transparency in an industry trapped in a fog of primal screaming and conspiracy theories.
24sight is here to decipher the most important events in our lifetime and the consequences that will follow.
We hope you’ll join us on this journey.
24sight News is strictly us, seasoned reporters infinitely fascinated by politics, working for you, our curious, thoughtful, and engaged readers who are excited to support honest journalism.
Help us by subscribing here.
As we build this community of smart, dedicated, sober citizens, we’ll add more.
But the first step is making sure we’re surviving. Warren needs a laptop with a functioning letter “T” still attached to the keyboard. (This is a thing that happens when you write constantly.) Tom needs health insurance and money to keep his sprouting daughter clothed. (Kids grow fast, as it turns out.)
After that, we can bring on more tireless, talented reporters yearning to break free from churning out digital bullshit.
Contribute to the cause for just $10 a month, or $100 a year. Or become a founding member of our effort to resurrect quality journalism for $1,000.
We also need money to stay in the field. We need around $10,000 to cover the upcoming conventions and scheduled presidential debates properly. The best reporting comes from working the beat, which is how we’ve made it this far.
You’ve seen what free looks like. It’s nonsensical yelling about Jewish Space Lasers and endless remixes of “Bleach Blonde Bad Built Butch Body”.
With your paid subscription, you’re supporting unflinching journalism. In exchange, count on us grilling the most powerful people in the country.
Now, let’s get to work!
Tom and Warren
Co-founders, 24sight News
tom@24sight.news - warren@24sight.news