Thread by @SeamusHughes

Court Watch launched two years ago. We’re dangerously close to having to close shop. A thread on our impact this year and a request for help.

In the last two years, our reporting has been the basis of more than a hundred news stories. We break the news. Everyone else then follows.

courtwatch.news/p/news-coverag…

When we started, we just wanted to do a weekly roundup of federal court record. But with the increase of news deserts and general vibe of editors not understanding what’s newsy, we ended up producing news worthy pieces.

Our highest read piece was about a Hawaii man accused of leading an neo-nazi child exploitation ring, followed closely by our uncovering of arrests of two individuals accused of running a massive online hacking platform, and a man alleged to have masqueraded as a fake FBI agent

We are big believers in transparency in the courts so it’s incumbent on us to be as open as possible with our readers. We haven’t taken a salary from Court Watch. It’s a money-losing operation, not Messenger-level-money-losing but money-losing nonetheless.

At our one year anniversary, we had 5,164 subscribers, of which 140 people paid for it. At our two year anniversary, we have 8,705 subscribers and 336 paid subscribers.

Last year, we averaged 50,000 monthly hits on our website. This year, it was 90,000. We get most of our subscribers from word of mouth.

In 2024, so far, the fees involved in pulling court records related to our stories were $6,105.30. We paid more than $4,000 dollars for freelance reporters

Let’s be as transparent as humanly possible. Court Watch will have to end if we don’t get more paid subscribers. We can’t keep this reporting going without our free subscribers transitioning to paid subscribers and we refuse to sacrifice quality for a bottom line.

Our reporting this year changed the course of lawsuits and, on more than one occasion, protected the little guy. Dolly Parton dropped a lawsuit (that no one on her team told her she filed) against a small Tennessee business when we asked why.

And it’s not just civil actions where a little Court Watch sunshine was the best disinfectant. Utah state prosecutors dismissed criminal charges against a National Park Ranger when we asked if they were actually serious.

We have an impact. We break news. We tell stories that wouldn’t be told if we didn’t. Yo survive, we need paid subscribers. It’s as simple as that.

courtwatch.news/p/help-us-turn…