Welcome to Dispatch. My name is Ryan McBride and I am a former photojournalist who now moonlights as an independent journalist. A few years ago I closed the chapter on a dream of being a photojournalist which I successfully accomplished for 12+ years, while the pandemic was raging and money was tight. I found a job in the tech world. After a few years, I quickly realized my passion that I tried to bury was scratching the surface again in a way it hadn’t since I was nearly 18 years old. This particular moment happened when Russia invaded Ukraine. Since then, I have been going back and forth with the many ways in which I could use my skill and passion for good use. So here we are.

The United States’ democracy is quite literally cracking in front of our very eyes. Fascism, white supremacy, Christian nationalism, and right-wing extremism are all at the forefront of a movement that is, for the moment, lead by the 47th President, Donald Trump. We are also in an environmental crisis that is happening, where weather events like wildfires, arctic blasts, flooding, hurricanes, and heat averages breaking records every single day/month/year, are becoming common place.

Journalism is also under fire like never before, and legacy media companies are struggling to come up with answers on how to cover this moment, and in some cases are blatantly sugarcoating, ignoring or becoming implicit and bending the knee.

Independent journalism is not only important, it is required right now. We need as many eyes out there as possible reporting and disseminating information. Factual, humane, and passionate coverage is required. Calling it like it is, is required. You will get that here.

Please subscribe to this newsletter if you are interested in this type of work. Paid or unpaid, it would be a big help in me continuing this pursuit. My goal and pledge to you is that I will bring you the best work I can produce. Thank you all so much.