Welcome aboard!

Here's my newsletter on law, politics, news... and probably music!

Hi!

It’s me, Ari. Welcome to my newsletter, and as Jay-Z says, “Allow me to re-introduce myself!”

I say that because while you may know from The Beat, or other reporting and guest hosting at MSNBC, or something else—this is the newsletter I’m using to share a bit more of my work, connect with readers and viewers, and try some new things. (Feel free to subscribe or share it!) 

(I think I was more into this moment than the dog?)

Working in journalism has opened up conversations for me with all kinds of people—politicians and government officials, scholars and experts, artists and rappers—and sometimes there’s more to explore when the interview’s over and the cameras are off. So I’m using this newsletter to:

• Build on some of those ongoing conversations and stories;

• Directly connect with you, and other readers, to work with this community we’ve been cultivating.

Now what does that entail?

It may be devoting more writing to the stories we tackle on the show, or tapping the ideas and expertise of this community, or trying other things you all think are valuable, whether that’s different kinds of media, online conversations, events, or something else. I already keep an eye on what viewers say, from story ideas to interviews to jokes from Beat viewers that have even made air… like Ed’s (now moot) idea for renaming a certain ex-blogger’s residence:

Ari Melber @AriMelber

Props to Ed, an MSNBC viewer who posted a comment so good we made a graphic for it...

But my hunch is all of those ideas just scratch the surface of what this could be… we’ll see!

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As for how this works:

I plan to send out newsletters about twice a week — a journalistic piece early in the week, and then something more fun and cultural on Fridays. On rare occasions, there may be extra editions for breaking news or something really special. (I will always be judicious in contacting you, because I hope this will be an email you want to open.) Everyone can get the journalistic pieces, while subscribing for the full newsletter gets you access to everything across the board.

For years, I’ve used a mix of social media, newsletters and events to connect with people interested in journalism, so I expect we’ll learn as we go. This will probably evolve based on experimentation and your input. Full subscribers can also inform where we go, and what people are more interested in. If you have an idea, or a topic you’d like me to tackle, feel free to go share it in the Substack comments now. If you are taking the time to subscribe to my work, I will take the time to read what you have to say. Seems fair!

And as we go along, you may also see replies from this newsletter’s editor, Calder McHugh, a journalistic colleague and writer himself (with a newsletter on sports and politics). 

What’s next?

Well first, you’ll never get another introductory email like this! : ) This was just to lay it all out once.

Going forward, all subscribers will get the journalistic newsletters from me.

Tomorrow, I am sending you a special essay on a question I’ve been grappling with for a while, ever since I worked in human rights advocacy and as a clerk for the NY Public Defender’s office:

Can our justice system ever break from its racist roots and provide equality under the law?

Thank you for your interest, for reading, and for staying engaged!

-Ari