Welcome to The Persistent!
Hi there! I'm so glad you're here.
I want to take a quick moment to introduce myself. I’m Francesca Donner, the founder and editor-in-chief of The Persistent. Here I am wearing one of my favorite T-shirts! Like it?
In my two decades as an editor in major U.S. newsrooms, I was struck by how women in the news were treated like an afterthought. Women’s stories didn’t make it to Page One. Women’s voices were often drowned out. Sometimes they were erased all together.
Are you OK with that? I wasn’t. That’s why I started The Persistent—to cover women for a change.
Our Mission
The Persistent was launched in 2024 to amplify women’s voices, stories, perspectives and ideas. Women's voices are all too often sidelined, overlooked, or erased. At The Persistent, you’ll always find women at the center of the story.
Our goal, above all, is to create a community where we can challenge the status quo and reframe how we see the world—a space where women and girls from all backgrounds will be valued and seen.
Our Newsletters.
As a free subscriber, you'll receive three newsletters a week.
On Tuesdays and Thursdays, we'll send your our flagship newsletter by award-winning journalists and illustrators. You'll find great journalism, and fresh ideas as well links to important news around the world you need to know about.
On Fridays, we send our quick and pithy recommendations newsletter, You Might Like.
Occasionally we'll send an extra newsletter your way, probably because something has happened in the news that we can't help writing about. #newsnerds
And sometimes we'll send you event invites. Keep a lookout for The Persistent in your inbox. đź‘€
A Special Offer.
As a free subscriber, you'll get access to our journalism, but you'll need to upgrade to paid for access to our editors' chats, bonus features and more.
We're an independent media organization and depend on our paid subscribers to keep doing what we do, so we hope you'll consider upgrading. We like to offer new subscribers a limited-time 20% discount off of our $80 annual membership rate. That's only $5.33 a month—less than the cost of a fancy latte!
With a paid subscription, you'll get extra benefits that include:
- Access to our monthly editors' chats
- Access to our editor's letter. (Oh, that's from me!)
- Behind the scenes interviews with our contributors
- Ability to comment on articles
- An ad-free experience
- That good feeling you get when you know you're fighting—and sustaining—the good fight!
Our Stories.
Can't wait until the next newsletter comes out? We don't blame you, we couldn't either. You can find our latest stories on our homepage, of course, or you can take a gander at some of these:
- How Everyday Sexism Is Sewn Into Our Clothes
- Menstrual Blood Is Having a Moment
- Inside Karachi's Women-Only Pink Bus
You can also follow our stories on Instagram, or join the conversation at LinkedIn.
Contact Us.
Want to chat with us? Drop us a line at hello@thepersistent.com. Please tell us who you are, and why you signed up. If you've got a story idea, send that our way, too. We’d love to hear from you!
That's It.
You'll hear from us soon. Thanks again for being here. Cheerio!
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