Last year, our note to readers announcing our summer break was more upbeat: we’d just completed several amazing projects, published loads of impactful stories and nationally, the energy of political races was hopeful.
This year is different.
Our community is under attack: our neighbors are disappeared by men in masks, our rights eroded, our resources slashed, our fears realized. It’s been a classic flooding of the zone, with overwhelming impacts at all levels.
The RANGE team is doing our best to cover as much as possible.
We’ve published 163 articles since January. Whether it’s 24 hours of boots-on-the-ground reporting on protests, follow up coverage of union-busting, telling you what’s happening both at the state legislature and at local city councils or amplifying the stories of our community members being taken by federal agents, we’re committed to informing and empowering our city so we can all work to make it better for each other.
And while covering the horrors of the United States in 2025 is nothing like feeling the full brunt of them like our immigrant and trans neighbors are, we can’t do this work from an empty cup. We have a long fight ahead of us and we all need to take the time to rest so we can keep on going.
We also need to take the time to celebrate our wins, big and small.
For our team, the biggest win is you: our readers and supporters. Since this time last year, our paid membership has nearly doubled, our social media followings and engagement have shot through the roof and our peak readership numbers from 2024 — which occurred only during fickle spikes of near-virality — are our new norm.
It’s a privilege to do this work at all, but it’s even better that we get to serve a community that cares so deeply.
One of our reporters, Erin Sellers, shared a quote with our newsroom from a January article by PNW columnist Dan Savage that resonates more and more as we continue in this news cycle from hell:
“Anyone who tells you that making time for joy — however you define it — is a distraction or a betrayal has no idea what they’re talking about. During the darkest days of the AIDS Crisis, we buried our friends in the morning, we protested in the afternoon, and we danced at night. The dance kept us in the fight because it was the dance we were fighting for. It didn’t look like we were going to win then and we did. It doesn’t feel like we’re going to win now but we could. Keep fighting, keep dancing.”
So we’re going to rest next week. We’re going to reconnect with family and friends and the things that bring us joy. We’re going to clean house and craft, swim in the sunshine and read books, rollerblade and play video games, cuddle our pets and find treasures at thrift stores. We’re going to celebrate that we continue to survive despite forces working against us.
We’ll come back on August 11, ready to keep fighting, keep dancing and keep writing.
If you want to support our work, become a member, tell your friends to sign up for our newsletters, or share our stuff on social media. If you have questions or feedback about any and all things RANGE, please send us an email at team@rangemedia.co
