Thank you, Sameer!

Journalists and their defenders never shine brighter than in moments of adversity. And, truly, there has never been a better time to shine.

This role also pairs well with being deep in the weeds on how to best support independent journalists with the products we’re developing at @trustfnd.com

I’m especially interested in the impact journalism can have on people’s lives and bring expertise in growth and product development.

The challenges are clear: There's an unprecedented erosion of trust in journalism in a variety of communities, there's an explosion of competition from machine-made content that is made to sell things, not inform people and enemies of journalism feel more empowered than ever before in my lifetime.

This is my first board position, so I'm feeling an adequate amount of humility that will prevent the kind of hubris that I've seen leading to so many bad decisions in journalism in the past 20 years.

Since its founding, Republik has attracted some of the very best, most fearless journalism talent in Switzerland. Many have left cushy jobs to join this startup or made it their first job in journalism.

The magazine's mission is to strengthen democracy with journalism. There are now more than 30,000 Republik publishers, which is a stunning number after just a few years in a market of just 5 million German speakers.

The cooperative shares its ownership with the people in the founding team. Together they hold 90%+ of the voting power.

The unique setup: Annual subscribers become part of a cooperative that owns nearly half of the magazine. That's why they're called "publishers," not subscribers, not members.

Thank you so much, Adrienne! So looking forward to working with you and the whole crew.

Thank you so much, Patrick! Can’t wait to get started.

The reason why so many journalists leave for jobs in PR, comms and marketing is because they often pay better, have better hours, and there are fewer cycles of layoffs. Every year, it gets harder for people from diverse backgrounds to stay in journalism, especially after more rounds of layoffs.

Hiding my double feature tickets for tonight in shame 😅