The Sunday Observer: The readers speak

Takeaways from the Observer's first reader survey

We’re officially in that dead zone between the primary and Labor Day when the political news tends to dry up like a dormant lawn. So today we’re digging into the Observer’s first reader survey.

First of all, many thanks to the hundreds of readers who took the time to fill out the survey earlier this summer. We polled both our paid subscribers — thanks for the support, folks — and the much larger free list. We wanted to know how you came to read and subscribe, what topics you’re most interested in, and how we can bring you a bigger and better Observer in the future.

Image by Shutterstock.

We’re nearly two years into this experiment in independent journalism, and I’m happy to report that the Observer is viable and growing. As a one-time refugee from one of the many dying business models of traditional journalism, I’m enormously grateful that what started out as a half-baked idea has panned out. It also keeps The Woman Who Lets Me Live With Her, who is also Queen of the Money¹ around here, from prevailing on me to seek more traditional employment.

On to the survey results: