Good evening! If you’re reading this, that means football season is officially here—and that The Dispatch has launched its new website.
We last overhauled our website in May 2024. While we were incredibly proud of that version of our site, we viewed it as an interim step on the path toward the fuller redesign launching today. Our goal has always been to provide our members with the best reading, listening, and viewing experience possible, so we made some upgrades on the margins when we could—audio versions of articles and newsletters, clearer content layouts, higher-quality visuals, new formats—while continuing to work in the background on a design that’s uniquely Dispatch-ian.
We’re grateful for all the hard work that went into our updated look, and we are confident that the rebrand is bringing us closer in line with who we are and have always been: the preeminent home for thoughtful, fact-based reporting and analysis from the center-right.
We’ve put together a brief overview of the new website to address any questions you may have. But if we missed something, please don’t hesitate to email us at members@thedispatch.com.
What exactly is changing with the new design?
Unlike that May 2024 refresh—during which we also upgraded our member-services and commenting platforms—the changes you’re seeing today are almost entirely aesthetic. You don’t need to create any new accounts or update any logins.
Our vision has been to build a website that matches the quality of the journalism we have been producing since October 2019. We told our designer, Craig Ward, that we wanted the brand to reflect the values upon which we were founded: civility, thoughtfulness, humility, independence, optimism. And as the information environment becomes increasingly dominated by artificial intelligence and social media algorithms, we knew our look needed to emphasize the humanity behind everything we publish.
Does this redesign mean you are changing your editorial focus or the types of content you publish?
Not at all; we are as committed as ever to producing the independent, fact-based reporting and analysis that you have (hopefully) come to expect from us.
All we hope to do with this redesign is present that reporting and analysis in a more compelling way—and add some new features along the way. You may notice, for example, that you now have the ability to quickly and easily adjust the text size in any given article or newsletter, in addition to listening to an audio version of it, saving it for later reading, or sharing it with a friend via a gift link. Keep an eye out for additional multimedia components to stories as well, as our reporters plan to incorporate more video and photography from their time on the road.
Are there any other major changes I should be aware of?
Our hope is that the new layout of the website is even more intuitive than the previous iteration, but to call out a few changes:
- The main navigation menu now opens along the left side of the page rather than from the top, both to take up less space and accommodate the growing percentage of our members who access our website primarily from their phones or tablets.
- Your login credentials, subscription, and account settings will carry over seamlessly to the new site. You can now access your account settings from the top-left corner of the website, rather than the top-right corner.
Will there be any changes to the newsletter or podcast experience?
Other than some new email headers and podcast logos that match the updated branding, nothing is changing. You can manage your newsletter subscriptions by clicking here, and your podcast subscriptions as you always have in your player of choice. All Dispatch members can expect to see additional audio and video offerings soon, and premium members can still access ad-free versions of all podcasts by clicking here.
Is The Dispatch working on an app?
Developing a mobile app remains a priority for us, and this redesign brings us a step closer to making that a reality. In the meantime, the new website is fully optimized for reading on mobile devices, tablets, and desktops. You may notice some layout and formatting improvements that enhance the mobile reading experience.
Where can I provide feedback about the new design?
We’d love to hear your thoughts! Please reach out to members@thedispatch.com with any comments or suggestions about the new look.
