"The utility has pointed to the region’s historically cold winter as a cause of rising heating demand and costs...But in an email to The 51st, Pepco’s own data show that their D.C. customers actually used more energy in January 2025 than January 2026."

ProPublica received eight handwritten letters from children who have been held at the detention center that 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos was recently released from. We'll let their words speak for themselves.

Nine and ten year olds, fleeing in fear. www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/f...

Here's a fun - and potentially doubly impactful! - way to help @51st.news hire more local journalists. You can help even if you can't donate money!

"What we all need to agree and commit it to is that journalism is a public good. Journalism is a thing that we need. Particularly when it comes to local news." For @inequality.org, @millsrodrigo.bsky.social interviewed two 51st co-founders, @abigailhiggins.bsky.social and @maddiepoore.bsky.social:

Here's a quick and EASY way to make a big $$$ impact for The 51st! Help spread the word, and get your dollars matched!! Thanks for your generosity and support, Russ!

Talking about the cuts at The Post is not fun, but talking about building worker-run alternatives to billionaire-owned news is.

Help keep DC's local news alive by becoming a member or donating to the @51st.news. 51st.news/the-51st-is-...

Good news, in these times... We’re less than 151 people away from reaching 1,000 new members since Jeff Bezos’ gutting of The Washington Post. Join today to help us reach this milestone and build a people-powered newsroom for D.C. 🤝

NEW: Congress' repeal of a D.C tax bill could cost the city more than $600M in revenue. Will city leaders fight back? Sources tell @maustermuhle.bsky.social that part of their hesitation could be coming from D.C.'s CFO Glen Lee, who is dealing with the ongoing tax-filing season.

NEW: Hand dance goes back to 1950s. Today, Washingtonians are still trying to keep it alive. I spoke with dancers of all ages, visited a school that teaches hand dance & dug through books/documentaries/oral histories to understand what makes DC's official dance so unique. 51st.news/dc-official-...

I was just doing some research on how DCs 1960s integration efforts were hamstrung by lack of statehood--the largely Black city was run by southern segregationists in congress. For awhile the Senate subcommittee that dealt with the DC budget was run by former KKK member Senator Robert Byrd. History!

The 51st has produced so much valuable reporting in just a single year, with only one full-time reporter. Can you imagine what a second year could look like if this newsroom had triple the reporting capacity? The good news is that we don't have to imagine — we can make it happen. ⬇️⬇️⬇️

7/ Our goal is to become D.C.’s go-to source for local news, one where residents of all 8 wards feel seen, heard, and connected. Help us get there by signing up as a monthly or annual member — or upping your recurring tax-deductible contribution, if you’re already on board. ⤵️ Thanks for reading!

6/ As a small team, we’re under no illusion that we alone can fill the void left by the journalists we’ve lost at The Post. But we also know that we’re building in a steady and sustainable way, funded predominantly by reader support — far sturdier than a billionaire's whims.

5/ We want to be the newsroom D.C. needs — so we’re raising funds to triple (!!!) our reporting capacity, and beef up our editing team to support these writers. More on our plans here, and how you can help 👇

4/ The 51st grew out of the ashes of another catastrophic loss in WAMU’s decision to shutter DCist and lay off 16 people. With your help, we’re fighting back *again* against the destruction of journalism — creating news that makes people’s lives better, funded by readers + led by local journalists.

2/ One week ago, The Washington Post's billionaire owner fired the majority of the paper's local reporters. It's a brutal blow to D.C.’s ability to hold elected officials accountable, make informed decisions, and feel connected to our neighbors. But this is a city of people who get the job done.

3/ Less than 3 days after the layoffs, we had 700+ new paying members — with more joining every day to say loudly and clearly: D.C. needs local news. 🥳 To those who’ve helped us spread the word about The 51st: Thank you! 🤗 To our new members and followers: Welcome! 🫵 You can join us today:

The Washington Post editorial board claims the benefits of reducing climate pollution are "modest" Who wrote this, exactly?

NEW: This was the last essay I was supposed to publish at the Washington Post. But they fired me. I'm publishing it anyway-- about my family's connection to a sword the British looted from Ghana in 1874. If youve ever wondered why I love swords, here's why. open.substack.com/pub/karenatt...

It’s been such a rough few weeks but getting together with other people and dreaming what a different world could look like — say, perhaps, where Jeff Bezos doesn’t stand between us getting the information we need about our neighbors and our city — is what is getting me through. Hope you'll join us.

Supporting local news like The 51st is one of the most powerful ways we can create accountability in this world. I support The 51st already and hope you will too.

We’re ready to strike for a fair contract after fighting for job security, a fair disciplinary process, wages that reflect the value of our work and clear guardrails around AI for more than two years. www.propublicaguild.org/updates/the-...

do you guys think stephen miller is ok?

My story on Elon Musk cutting safeguards at xAI is on the front page of today's @washingtonpost.com. I’m also among 100’s of reporters laid off. I absolutely loved my job my brilliant coworkers & the thrill of reporting @ the center of forces upending the world: AI & Silicon Valley’s political power

cops: sex trafficking victims are impossible to find! most of them don’t even know they’ve been trafficked. dozens of women over decades: here’s our sworn statements about jeff epstein cops: … prosecutors: … anti-trafficking task forces: … cops: we have no choice but to do a craigslist sting

📬 This week's newsletter: ✊ Solidarity with Washington Post journalists 🗳️ How candidates say they'd have handled the snowstorm 🥊 The D.C. Council lawyers up against Mayor Bowser 📆 What to do during Black History Month Get the next edition in your inbox: www.51st.news/signup

Laid off journalists are fighting to save their paper even while facing unemployment. Here's some ways you can show up for them, and for all of us.

It took me a while to get here, but I explain on @dailykos.com why I'm now pulling the plug on @washingtonpost.com . I'll instead support @51st.news, @washingtoninformer.com, @washingtoncitypaper.com.web.brid.gy, @dclinenews.bsky.social www.dailykos.com/stories/2026...

Our newsletter will be going out late tomorrow in solidarity with the WaPo journalists. Get out there if you can.

The two children who returned to MN today say they saw one of their Valley View schoolmates at a detention center in TX. This is a child whose family was last in contact with the school on January 9. No one has known where they were until now.

the Washington Post effectively blew up its arts section today, dismissing its books, TV, music, and theater critics, features writers, and several editors. (I'm also guessing the vacant film critic position will stay that way.) Just an insane loss of talent and a huge self-inflicted wound.

I cannot emphasize enough how under-supported principled independent news is, and how much I believe people are going to come to regret that. We need news and analysis that can fuel movements, and the people willing to deliver it are extremely hard up for resources.

Just a reminder that when you become a @truthout.org sustainer, you not only support Truthout's independent journalism but also the Truthout Center for Grassroots Journalism, which is helping to cultivate and maintain the ecosystem of indy journalism we need in these times.

That mask is also popular with neo-Nazi accelerationist groups, which I think is really important to mention. Just like it's important to mention that ICE agents in Denver have been dropping Ace of Spades cards where they've kidnapped people. The white nationalist culture at work is clear.

There is a (tax deductible!) way to repurpose your Washington Post subscription dollars — it is, again, making deep cuts to its local coverage — by becoming a sustaining supporter of @51st.news Join community leaders like @mkraju.bsky.social, @eli.pizza — and lowlifes like myself and @caseym.org

The targeting of Native Americans by ICE is so widespread, tribal governments all over are responding. To protect tribal citizens from ICE raids, tribes are holding events to help citizens get updated IDs and even speeding up the printing and processing times.

BREAKING: We're calling on the U.N. to investigate the Trump administration's violations of human rights in Minnesota. The U.S. government must be held accountable for blatantly defying international law as ICE ignores the freedoms our country is obligated to uphold.

The widespread targeting of Native Americans demonstrates its not about legal status, its about racial profiling. ictnews.org/news/fearing...

The average public school in the U.S. has 500 students. ICE is currently detaining over 7 schools' worth of children, many of whom are being held in inhumane conditions. Children do not belong in government detention.

Jeff Bezos gave $75 million to support Melania Trump's vanity film, but he doesn't have the money for the hundreds of journalists he laid off at The Post today. Democracy dies with Bezos – unless we fight back. Here's how you can help: newsguild.org/mass-layoffs...

🇺🇦 Washington Post Ukraine Correspondent Lizzie Johnson announces that she has been laid off in the middle of a below-freezing war zone without power, heat or running water.

Our hearts go out to everyone laid off at The Washington Post today. Take a moment to scroll through the list of journalists across the industry who've donated to the Post Guild's layoff fund. Media solidarity is more important now than ever. www.gofundme.com/f/standing-t...

Bezos isn't destroying the Washington Post because it isn't profitable. He's destroying the Washington Post because he's calculated that a robust free press threatens the ability of his class to warp society around their interests

Jeff Bezos, one of the richest people on Earth, just eliminated hundreds of union jobs at the Washington Post. Solidarity with @postguild.bsky.social. Join them tomorrow, February 5 at 12:00 p.m. for a rally to #SaveThePost.

We need to take seriously the cultivation and maintenance of that ecosystem, because the good guys are losing a war over reality right now. The truth is a front of struggle. We must reinforce that front.

I guess nothing newsworthy is happening in Ukraine

It's a story of magical thinking in assuming we could ever rely on benevolent billionaires to save journalism. It's also a story of oligarchs turning their backs on democracy and exploiting their media assets to advance class interests. Above all, it's a tragedy for news workers and for all of us.

Anyway, support independent media like @autonomynews.co—the first worker-owned reproductive rights and justice publication—founded by me and @garnethenderson.com. Our work will never paywalled and we are powered by paid subscriptions, tip jar gifts, and tax-deductible donations: