Dear Readers,

I wanted to take this opportunity to thank you once again for your loyalty and support. The Rogovoy Report e-newsletter and website has roots going back over 10 years as an adjunct to Berkshire Living magazine, and many of you have been subscribers since the beginning. There have been changes and updates to the Rogovoy Report since it was first launched as a website plus a five-day-per-week publication plus a once-per-week separate weekend preview: about eight years ago, we expanded with parallel editions covering the Hudson Valley; we added a daily National Crisis Edition in 2016; and then, for various reasons, we consolidated everything into the once-per-week edition you are now reading.

One thing that has remained consistent throughout the life of the Rogovoy Report: it is free to subscribers. Historically, the paid advertising that ran alongside the editorial copy covered all the expenses incurred in publishing the Rogovoy Report, and, in tandem with the generosity of free-will donations by subscribers, provided me with a reliable income stream nearly commensurate with the amount of time I dedicated to producing the Rogovoy Report.

Several years ago, online advertising began to dwindle, as advertisers began to tighten their belts during a time of economic hardship and as tech giants like Google and Facebook offered what seemed like a better, cheaper alternative. Advertising in the Rogovoy Report dropped off precipitously. Then the pandemic hit, the economy tanked, most performing arts venues (the bulk of the Rogovoy Report advertisers) cancelled their summer seasons, individual donations dried up, and, with the single exception of Tanglewood’s season-long ad, there was no longer any paid advertising supporting my efforts.

To put it plainly, I have not received any significant income from the Rogovoy Report for almost a year. While I haven’t cut back on the time and effort I put into the website — previewing the coming week’s cultural events; posting original essays, reviews, and commentary; posting fast-breaking news stories of cultural and other interest — and weekly newsletter, I do continue to bear significant costs. I pay $60/month – that’s $720 per year – to Mailchimp, just to be able to send out the weekly newsletters to 4,000 recipients. I pay $200 for webhosting and several hundred dollars for additional software. And I continue to pay for subscriptions to dozens of newspapers and magazines – for a total of $3,000 — so that I can surf freely across the vast terrain of online news media to gather for you a wide and diverse range of the most interesting articles for your reading pleasure in the weekly Rogovoy Report e-newsletter. And, of course, I continue to devote significant time to all these efforts—except now without any financial compensation whatsoever.

I’m sure you know where I’m headed with all this. These are tough times, for all of us. Even the vaunted Berkshire Eagle last week announced it is cutting its print editions back to just five days a week (down from seven), mostly due to lack of advertising income.

There is some good news, however. There is an economy of scale here that can easily solve the financial peril facing the Rogovoy Report. Simple arithmetic tells the story. Four-thousand of you received today’s Rogovoy Report e-blast. More of you are visitors to this website who do not (yet) subscribe to the newsletter. If just one out of every four of you donated $1 per month, I would collect $12,000 per year – enough to cover all my expenses and have some money left over for my time. If 1,000 readers gave just $2 per month, I’d be able to recoup my losses and accrue a decent income commensurate with my time. Throw in a few dozen or hundred generous donations of $5 or $10 per month, and the outlook for the Rogovoy Report would be one of long-term stability. (See below for how to contribute.)

Other ways you can help support the Rogovoy Report are:
— tell your friends about it and encourage them to subscribe
— share articles I post on the Rogovoy Report website with your own social media followers
— advertise

Saving the Rogovoy Report, in the end, is not a heavy lift. Thank you in advance for anything you can do to support my efforts to keep this going for at least another decade—and maybe longer….

In solidarity,
Seth Rogovoy

How to contribute:

1. Use the PayPal “donate” button in the right-hand panel to set up a one-time or recurring donation
2. Send a check made out to “The Rogovoy Report” to: Seth Rogovoy, PO Box 34, Hudson NY 12534
3. Find me on Venmo @Rogovoy