Jennifer Rubin exits the Washington Post -- joins new startup publication!

[mainer]

“Our goal is to combat, with every fiber of our being, the authoritarian threat that we face,” Rubin told CNN in an interview ahead of the publication’s introduction.

Rather than anti-Trump, the founders describe their venture as pro-democracy. They said they have already enlisted about two dozen contributors, including people who played prominent roles in debunking 2020 election denialism and investigating the January 6, 2021, attack at the US Capitol.

“The voices we’ll be featuring are diverse across parties and generations,” Eisen said in a statement, “connected by the shared belief that we need an unshackled media in order to meet this moment, as we face an existential threat to American democracy.”

The Contrarian joins a growing group of publications – like The Bulwark and Zeteo, to name two – that are built on the Substack newsletter platform. Starting Monday, it will publish some content for free but will charge $7 a month for complete access to columns, podcasts, and videos.

https://www.cnn.com/2025/01/13/media/jennifer-rubin-norm-eisen-contrarian-washington-post/index.html

I just subscribed! You can go here if you want to subscribe, too:
https://contrarian.substack.com

[Pachamama]

1. I respect Jennifer Rubin

Have not always agreed with her on all issues - but think she is a principled and honest journalist.

Not surprised at this news and I will look forward to reading her articles.

[yardwork]

5. She used to be a conservative Republican.

It's been interesting to watch her transformation. I'm sure I would disagree with her about a number of things, but right now she's laser-focused on the threat to our democracy from Republicans. I respect that.

[Ocelot II]

10. Yes, and she used to annoy the hell out of me.

But it was just the usual old-style GOP stuff that you could have a rational argument about, not the foaming-at-the-mouth lunacy we're subjected to now by the remaining "conservative" columnists - meatheads like Hugh Hewett, for example. She certainly has figured out that the old GOP is dead, and maybe she's also figured out that even the old one wasn't that great.

[BonnieJW]

26. I prefer to say she evolved

[ThePartyThatListens]

59. She was one of them

I came up listening to and watching her sound almost no different than MAGA does today.

[yardwork]

62. Well, either she changed or she wasn't ever MAGA.

I remember reading her over the years and disagreeing with a lot of what she wrote, but I don't recall her having a MAGA bent.

If she agreed with MAGA, she'd be supportive if Trump, and she's not.

Nowadays, I agree with her more than disagree. If we make it through this crisis, maybe she'll go back to writing things I don't agree with. For now, I'm glad to have a sane voice speaking up against Trumpism.

[ThePartyThatListens]

64. Yeah, she seems a bit more sane now, because the rest of her party has gone completely insane

Let's just say you're more generous than I am.

I have little, to no, respect for all Republicans.

[Evolve Dammit]

9. Agreed. She is excellent

[senseandsensibility]

42. I respect her too

but one thing to keep in mind is that all these "reasonable" republicans like her, Steele, Cheney, etc. still stubbornly cling onto insane conservative dogma even in the face of powerful evidence to the contrary. For instance, I wouldn't be surprised if Rubin, specifically, supports tax cuts for the wealthy as some kind of economic guiding light. There is no evidence that those help anyone but the extremely wealthy and hurt everyone else. Still, people like Rubin cling onto it and I think that's why they won't just become Democrats.

[reACTIONary]

58. She is principled and honest, but is she a...

.... journalist? Maybe, for some definition of "journalist", but she doesn't do any original news reporting, as far as I can tell. To me she is a pundit, which is often a pejorative, although I don't take it that way.

[summer_in_TX]

60. Opinion writers and editors are indeed journalists.

The ones who are ethical, as she is, go to great lengths to verify the content of their opinion pieces. Journalism is more than straight reporting.

The service that a good opinion writer does for the country, city, or state is to bring awareness to the conscience of the reader a host of issues that affect good governance, democracy, and the lives of people. Straight reporting is of course important, but consider how much opinion writers do to shine a light onto misdeeds and hold the powerful to account through the stories they share in their columns.

[reACTIONary]

65. Thanks, good point.

[markie]

2. thanks

[BoRaGard]

3. Salute to someone who refuses to BEND THE KNEE

or go Brown Noser on the IncomingG.O.P. KristoFascist KlusterBuster.

NB - Bezos' funky phallus fails to rise today. Omen?

[Ocelot II]

4. Thanks - I just signed up for the free version,

might pay for a subscription later. Contributors will include Norm Eisen, Joyce Vance, Andy Borowitz, Laurence Tribe, Katie Phang, George Conway, Olivia Julianna and Harry Litman.

[yardwork]

6. Interesting group of contributors.

I looks like Trump has created a counter-movement made up of intellectuals from various points of view, now coming together to form a united front.

Very interesting.

[tulipsandroses]

55. I like that line up!

I will check them out and perhaps subscribe as well.

[Peregrine Took]

7. She was first in her class from Berkley law school. n/t

[Borogove]

8. She was one of the few reasons I was reluctant to cancel my Washington Post subscription.

The other was their climate change reporting. I cancelled it anyway.

[yardwork]

11. I just subscribed to The Contrarian and canceled my WaPo subscription.

Canceling my Washington Post subscription makes me very sad. It's the end of an era. A lot of things are changing.

[dalton99a]

12. Kick

[Lonestarblue]

13. Thanks for the link. I just signed up, too.

I still read the Post because my subscription doesn’t expire for a few more months, after which I’ll ignore it as a media source. It truly makes me sad to see what has become of the Post. It is supposedly losing millions of dollars, but everything Bezos and Lewis are doing is driving away their own assets and losing subscribers. I wish Bezos would just sell it and allow someone who cares about honest media resurrect the Post.

[TheRickles]

14. Any updated stats on how many WaPo subscriptions have been cancelled recently?

[Journeyman]

44. The linked CNN article says 250,000 since Bezos killed the Harris endorsement . . .

But Rubin does have one data point as motivation. In the wake of the Post’s non-endorsement scandal, at least 250,000 customers dropped their subscriptions. For a Post veteran walking out the door in protest, those fellow protesters might be the starting point for a new subscription business.

[TheRickles]

47. Yes, but that number was quoted a couple of weeks ago. I was wondering if the trend has continued since then.

[Polly Hennessey]

15. I just signed up

[intheflow]

16. I was wondering when she'd be leaving.

She's just too good to stay at a paper where it's masthead has been perverted from "Democracy dies in darkness," meaning they have an obligation to sine a light on democratic abuses, to "Democracy dies in darkness" as instructions on how to kill democracy. I can't wait to take the money I had invested in WaPo and give it to Rubin directly, instead.

[JadedButHopeful]

17. To hell with Jennifer Rubin!

I'd like to drop in a contrarian view here.

I know a lot of people are inclined to welcome Jennifer Rubin's "evolution" to an anti-Trump position because that's what we do as progressives.

But I can't emphasize enough that there would be no Trump if it weren't for "conservatives" like Jennifer Rubin laying the ground work for decades and poisoning the body politic.

People like Jennifer Rubin, George Conway, Rick Wilson, etc. etc. SHOULD BE ON THEIR HANDS AND KNEES BEGGING FOR FORGIVENESS for what they've done to our country.

They can oppose Trump all they want but they will always be complicit in my view for his rise.

To hell with Jennifer Rubin!

[question everything]

18. So much hate, so much anger. People evolve, otherwise they ossify.

[Celerity]

25. thank you

[speak easy]

22. Basically because they are former Republicans.

Not a good enough reason to go on hating them these days.

[greatauntoftriplets]

28. Norm Eisen is not a former Republican.

Among other things, he was President Obama's ambassador to Hungary.

[spooky3]

32. You may be thinking of Norm Ornstein:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman_Ornstein

[Trueblue Texan]

23. You may be correct...no, you ARE correct...

...about conservatives paving the way for what is happening now. But if we want to change our nation's direction, we have to work with those that are willing to work for the same end. We can't throw away our allies, even if we don't agree with them on everything.

[JohnSJ]

27. Bullshit. She was never for trump, including in 2016 where she voted for

Hillary where some self-identified progressives not only refused to vote for Hillary, but went out of their way to encourage others not to vote for Hillary in the general election in 2016, and that includes such notables David Sirota, Nina Turner, Cornell West, Jill Stein, Susan Sarandon, etc etc etc

[emulatorloo]

50. Thank you. Good to hear the truth.

[yardwork]

33. I'm not understanding your point here.

I'm not voting for Jennifer Rubin. I'm signing up to hear what she has to say. I don't have to forgive her or believe her or agree with her.

However, at this point in this national emergency, I think it's important to band together as much as possible.

[live love laugh]

19. She leaves one authoritarian entity and broadcasts it on another (CNN).

I’m pretty sure she is taking advantage of the opportunity for publicity but fuck CNN too otherwise.

[prodigitalson]

20. "Rubin's existential dark night of the soul was reflected in her disperate daily on-air wordrobe choices"

"Rubin's existential dark night of the soul was reflected in her disperate daily on-air wordrobe choices" prodigitalson 2025

[thebigidea]

53. "disperate daily on-air wordrobe choices?" What are you even trying to say?

[prodigitalson]

66. nevermind, I had her confused with someone else...sorry

[Trueblue Texan]

21. I just subscribed too! nt

[Dennis Donovan]

24. Here's her Bluesky post:

Jen Rubin
‪@jenrubin.bsky.social‬
BIG NEWS. I have left the Post. Corporate and billionaire media are failing to meet the moment. With @normeisen.bsky.social I'm launching @contrariannews.bsky.social. We'll have politics but also cooking, humor, film and even pets. Please subscribe and join the fight. contrarian.substack.com

January 13, 2025 at 9:20 AM

https://bsky.app/profile/jenrubin.bsky.social/post/3lfmwndwhss24

[Prairie Gates]

29. You can't ethically work for Bezos in the field of journalism

He has put his thumb on the scale. It is a betrayal of the readers to continue to pantomime as if the Washington Post is anything other than a house organ for a propagandistic billionaire.

[DENVERPOPS]

54. Yes

Very well said PG.......Same with most all of the entirely Republican owned/operated media in the country.....

And the print media, like WaPo, NYT are stupid by trying ALSO to appeal to the Trumphumpers when they don't even read !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
But their OWNERS get brownie points from the Republican Party and Trump for trying......

[PennRalphie]

30. No surprise. The Post lost millions of subscribers

They refused to endorse Kamala Harris. I fully expected this exodus to happen. Falling subscriptions, less ad revenue. They probably asked her to take a pay cut. I remember how many here cancelled their subscriptions when that happened. I’m sure most other democratic voters did the same.

It sounds like a very intelligent group of contributors. I’m sure they’ll do well.

[Takket]

31. I came here to post about this as well......

Saw this on BlueSky. Please spread the word about this. Part of taking back our country is going to be shunning media owned by billionaires. The MSM fought for and successfully brought us a second drumpf presidency, and if their billionaire owners are going to turn them into propaganda outlets, then we need to UPLIFT independent sources. And this looks like a good one to start.

[Jilly_in_VA]

34. I left too

I tried to stay, but this was it. The new commenting section was awful. but I was struggling through. However, this was absolutely IT for me. Jen Rubin is a thoughtful, informed columnist, perhaps a little more conservative than I am, but I like her. A LOT. And I can always learn something from her.

[yardwork]

35. I unsubscribed today too.

[mcar]

36. I've already subscribed!

[Scrivener7]

37. I have been hoping they'd do this!!! Signed up for free. If they're good, I'll subscribe in a month.

[Martin Eden]

38. Thanks, I'll check it out. n/t

[justhanginon]

39. Done. Thanks for posting.

[wordstroken]

40. Just signed up. Although already have subscriptions

to many of the contributors. Looking forward to reading more.

Thanks for the info, mainer.
Much appreciated!

[stollen]

41. Bezos is bleeding talent

I hope Bluesky can tap into fb's populous. I'm off fb but haven't converted.

[Joinfortmill]

43. MSM soon to be replaced by Independent Media (IM)

Reporters are fleeing by the dozens.

[Cha]

45. TY & JR Kick

[COL Mustard]

46. I've already joined a couple of Substack groups

They can get expensive quickly. I’ll have to think about this one, although I love JR’s commentary.

[BlueSky3]

52. You can subscribe free and

decide later if you want a paid subscription. Some articles will continue to be free.

[Mme. Defarge]

48. I hoped, and believed,

that it was just a matter of time.

[Celerity]

49. Lots of great people involved:

I am launching this endeavor with my cofounder, Norm Eisen. Founding contributors will include Joyce Vance, Andy Borowitz, Laurence Tribe, Katie Phang, George Conway, Olivia Julianna, Harry Litman (who recently resigned from the LA Times for reasons similar to mine for leaving the Post), and Asha Rangappa, among many other brilliant voices.

[emulatorloo]

51. Just subscribed, for the free version. Will probably upgrade to paid in Feb or March.

I was wondering when she was going to leave WAPO and what she was going to do next. She’s smart and thoughtful and appreciate her analysis.

Thanks so much for posting the article.

[electric_blue68]

56. Ty. Signed for free. Will appreciate what I can get

Don't have the $.

[reACTIONary]

57. Contributors will include....

.... Contributors will include .... Andy Borowitz....

So, that's going to make it lively!

[soldierant]

61. Joyce Vance is also in on this.

She mentioned it in her "Civil Discourse Substack today - and also mentioned there were a number of good people involved.

Subscribing to a Substack newsletter is basically free. They all have something or some things you don't get if you choose not to pay (or can't afford to), but you get most of the content with a free sub.

[LAS14]

63. Will it be non-profit? Maybe that it's on substack says it all, but I'm not educated about this stuff. nt