Why I started Drop Site News

We are building a new independent news site, focused on war and politics, that plans to take big swings at powerful people.

A year ago, I never would have imagined writing this note, not to mention publishing on Substack. But here I am. Eleven years after I co-founded The Intercept, I have left the organization to build something new. I am very excited to say that my colleague Ryan Grim and I are launching Drop Site News, a non-aligned, investigative news organization. 

We have a serious plan to build a lean, sustainable news outlet that punches well above its weight and takes big swings at powerful people and institutions and we already have a bunch of stories in the pipeline. In the first week of Drop Site News’s existence, I published a three part series based on interviews with senior leaders of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. I hope that these articles give the public deeper insight into their decision to launch the October 7 attacks in Israel and how the group views the past nine months of the U.S.-backed Israeli war of annihilation against the Palestinians of Gaza. You can read them all for free at Drop Site News. While you are there, make sure to subscribe.

We are going to need the support and backing of you and other friends, readers, listeners, and viewers of our work to get Drop Site News off the ground. The first thing you can do to show us you have our back is to become a paid subscriber and encourage everyone you know to do the same. I have never wanted my work to live behind a paywall because I believe that journalism is a public service that should be freely available to all. Your voluntary paid subscription will make this possible.

When I speak to young people at universities and schools, I often say that journalism is not just a job, it is a fire that burns in your heart. I didn’t go to journalism school. I learned to be a reporter the way a carpenter or a plumber hones the skills of their trade, by working as an apprentice. In the mid-1990s, I begged my way into an unpaid gig working for Amy Goodman soon after the launch of the independent radio program Democracy Now! I would get up before the sun and take the train up to WBAI radio station across the street from Madison Square Garden. I would sit in the smoking lounge reading newspapers and wire services of the world and prepare the ten-minute news summary that Amy reads at the top of the show.

When I look back on it, that was one of the best jobs I ever had and it taught me to read corporate news with a critical eye. I would also stay late into the night studying how to edit audio on old school reel-to-reel tapes with razor blades and tape. I often say that Democracy Now! was my university. I learned from Amy Goodman that real journalism necessitates getting dirt under your fingernails and seeking out the people who live on the other side of the barrel of the gun that the U.S. so often points at people and nations across the globe.

Photo: Richard Rowley

Since those early days at Democracy Now!, I have worked as a journalist in print, radio, television and film. I’ve investigated U.S. mercenaries, drone assassination programs, coups and covert operations. I’ve reported from Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen, Somalia, Nigeria, Yugoslavia, and from the frontlines of struggles for justice inside the United States. For many years, I was the national security correspondent for The Nation magazine and I have freelanced for a range of publications in both independent and mainstream news. I was nominated for an Oscar Award for best documentary feature and managed to win… a donated tuxedo (which I have never again worn). I’ve authored two books based on my investigative journalism, Blackwater: The Rise of the World’s Most Powerful Mercenary Army and Dirty Wars: The World is a Battlefield.

In 2013, I joined Glenn Greenwald and Laura Poitras in creating what would become The Intercept. Glenn and Laura have both made invaluable journalistic contributions to our understanding of some of the most dangerous aspects of the U.S. national security state. Their work in bringing the NSA/Edward Snowden story to light was an immense public service. It has been the honor of my professional life to work with the tenacious and dedicated journalists who have always been the heart and soul of that The Intercept. I was blessed to work with two of the finest editors in journalism, Betsy Reed and Roger Hodge. There will be a time and place to tell the story of what happened at The Intercept, but right now my focus is on producing uncompromising journalism. I have no interest in engaging in toxic media battles or turf wars. I believe that we live in dire times and those of us in the media need to keep a laser focus on the battles that matter to real people’s lives. That is my priority. 

I’m really honored to be building this site with my friend and colleague Ryan Grim. He is one of the hardest working, hardest hitting journalists in D.C. He’s been doing consequential investigative journalism for two decades, during which he has broken some of the most important political stories of our time. More recently, Ryan’s groundbreaking reporting on Pakistan and his confrontations of White House officials on Israel policy and other issues has been vital. Ryan is literally always on the job.

We are thrilled that our colleague Nausicaa Renner, who quit The Intercept in February in protest of the mass layoffs, will be joining us as a founding editor. Nausicaa is a sharp, skilled, and principled editor with a ferocious instinct for stories that matter.

The agreement we made with The Intercept will allow us to continue producing our podcasts Intercepted and Deconstructed, which will now be hosted at Drop Site News. The show transcripts will appear at both news sites. We were fortunate for many years at The Intercept to have a generous funder to bankroll our work. Drop Site News is starting from the bottom up. I know what it is like to hustle to raise money to support journalism that powerful people do not want published. I’ve slept on floors in war zones and borrowed satellite phones from colleagues from big news organizations to file my stories. I also know what it means to carry with you the honor of being backed by people power and modest donations. 

We know that it seems insane to launch a new media outlet smack in the middle of summer and, well, we agree. But Gaza is burning, authoritarianism is rising and, at least for the moment, the only man standing between Donald Trump and the White House has spent most of the past year facilitating a genocidal war in between naps. At the same time, across the globe, the struggles to build a just world are also intensifying and international solidarity with Palestine has inspired an unprecedented movement demanding an end to Israel’s apartheid rule and the Western support that enforces it. The world needs solid journalism to tell these stories.

We intend to report on it all, but we can only do it with the support of people like you. Hit subscribe, become a paid subscriber or make a one-time contribution. If you are in a position to make a significant financial contribution to help us launch Drop Site News, email us at majorgiving@dropsitenews.com. What is most important right now is to spread the word to all of your friends, colleagues, family, and even your foes. You can always email me story ideas, tips or comments at jeremy@dropsitenews.com (Proton mail). 

On behalf of our whole team at Drop Site News, thank you for joining us on this mission. Our sleeves are rolled up and we are already at work. Our pledge is to be accountable to you.

Onwards,
Jeremy