An Announcement about The Weekly Gazette

Launching paid subscriptions and focusing on in-depth journalism

Hello,

If you’re reading this, I sincerely thank you for deciding that The Weekly Gazette is worth your time. I’m excited to tell you about a couple new things that I’m adding to it, which include:

• Paid subscriptions

• More focus on in-depth journalism

For some context, I started this newsletter as a joke in my freshman year of high school. It wasn’t on Substack; instead, it was forcefully email blasted to “Student News”, a mailing list that probably included over 400 students, teachers, and faculty. I published an op-ed (as they call it in the business) that made fun of some seniors for angrily berating freshmen who sat at their designated senior table. Suffice to say, a lot of people did not find it amusing. However, the few who did ended up subscribing — perhaps to receive updates on whether I had subsequently been hazed.

Six years later, I decided to revive the Gazette on Substack, this time as a creative outlet for whatever I was interested in at the time. As I shifted from wanting to pursue a career in scientific research to a career in journalism, I began writing about a much broader range of topics. My recent article “College Campus Protests” was my first foray into legitimate journalism, and it was this article that convinced me to pursue it full-time.

The most rewarding moments of writing this newsletter have been hearing your genuine reactions to articles. For example, some of you have told me that you were particularly moved by reading about the backstory of Anne Frank’s diary. Perhaps the piece on university protests made you consider a new perspective that you hadn’t previously encountered. And maybe the article about using hamsters to power America made you consider finally unsubscribing.

Nevertheless, I’m glad to have had some sort of impact on my readers. Please feel free to keep sharing your thoughts and suggestions — I strongly encourage you to comment on articles or send me messages on Substack.

Regarding the focus of the Gazette, I’d like to use it to bring you increasingly in-depth, human stories from all corners of the world, especially those that have been neglected by the eyes of major news media. In the words of legendary war photographer James Nachtwey: “Before we can solve problems, we have to identify them.”

Bringing forgotten issues to the forefront of public discourse, is in my opinion, the true value of journalism. Whether I’m writing about human trafficking in Romania or the stunning prevalence of conversion therapy in the U.S., I want to make sure that nobody’s story is left untold.

If you would like to support my work, you can upgrade to a paid membership ($5/mo.) or support me on Patreon. All of our articles will remain free.

For those of you that have stuck with me thus far, thank you.

I hope to see you around!

- Sequoyah