I’ve been crying “Elephant” about this for years, but, ironically, no one hears my alarm…because they’d have to find it through Google, or Facebook/Instagram. And they don’t.

If you’re moved by this, support indie media. You can start by reading Elephant, through Elephant, not through the gatekeepers at Google or Facebook/Insta, every day. And share.

(Even our newsletter is gatekeeped by Google’s Gmail algorithm, most of the time).

~

7 years ago, Elephant (independent, unfunded, with zero investment) had grown to 30 million unique readers a month.

I worked hard to grow this platform, for years, night and day, 7 days a week. It was a labor of love, and there were times when I was broke and burned out, and my house even went into the 11th hour of foreclosure.

You could say it was a success story of, you know, entrepreneurship, Capitalism, a pull-yourself-up-by-your-bootstraps kinda GOP mythology that, when examined, is usually significantly due to the support and enthusiasm of a caring community, not just some white male privileged hero.

Today, we’re at about 1 million readers a month. We’re laying off staff, something we’ve never done before.

Why? It’s simple.

Facebook, 7 years ago, changed its algorithm. Instagram doesn’t even allow links (same company). Google and Gmail and Youtube (all Alphabet) took control of its own searches, and videos, and emails. Amazon does the same. If you want to keep Elephant in your life, go to elephantjournal.com. Subscribe. If you don’t, some day you’ll look for us, or other indie media (90% have already died or been bought up by The Man over the past years), and we’ll be gone.

Winning comment: “I am a New York voter and I just called Chuck Schumer’s office asking him to please bring these bills to a vote. The woman at his office said she would pass the message along and asked for my zip code. Thanks John for telling me about this! And other people in New York, please call or email Chuck’s office. If enough voters reach out, it might make a difference.”