A weekly news brief that makes it easy for you to stay informed without all the chaos. A more human way to engage with the news.
The Why
Other than being cousins and good friends, David and I share a common interest: to understand what’s going on in the world, in our country, in our city. But today, following the news has become a full-time job.
News organizations are corrupted by ideology. They live in their own respective bubbles and cater to partisan views. Emotion has become more important than fact and party loyalty has become more important than the truth.
This has resulted in click-bait titles, an agenda-driven arrangement of the facts, and an atmosphere of distrust that renders it difficult to live constructively together as a country.
It feels impossible to engage with the news while remaining present in life to your family, friends, work, faith, and kids. That’s not how it should be.
The paid version of The News Memo is the best experience:
The Full News Memo every week, including the Trends stories. Trends are often the crown jewel in terms of a story that is interesting to read and discuss among your colleagues and friends.
Bonus pieces. (i.e., “10 Beautiful Movies Worth Your Time”)
Access to The News Memo Discord channel, where you can provide input and help shape the future of the Memo.
Exclusive access to TNM apparel at cost.
The purpose of The News Memo is to help you engage with what’s happening in the world while not losing your life.
When you subscribe to The News Memo, you can take a sigh of relief. Every Friday, you will receive a well-crafted weekly news brief without all the chaos.
In short: we want to provide a more human way to engage with the news.
A little about us
John Stokman is a professional marketer, entrepreneur and musician. He works full-time at The Saint Paul Seminary in Saint Paul, MN, where he helps run the marketing and communications. He graduated from the University of St. Thomas with a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration. In 2015, he attended Techstars - one of the top startup incubators in the world - with VidGrid, a startup software technology based in Saint Paul, Minnesota. He has released an EP titled “Home” that can be found on Spotify. His favorite part of The News Memo is writing about elections and the political atmosphere in the U.S. and abroad.
David Stokman graduated from Saint John’s University (MN) with a degree in economics and philosophy. He played basketball in college and holds the record for three-pointers made in a career at Saint John’s. After graduation, he spent a volunteer year at a Benedictine monastery in Rome, Italy, where he learned Italian, saw how beautiful cities are made, and started to write and cook. Today he works at Bell Bank in its cash flow lending group. He continues to play basketball - including the Twin Cities Pro Am. His favorite part of The News Memo is covering how cultural trends and technology are shaping society.
Our process
Every week, our team reads the news daily from a variety of sources to keep an eye on what’s happening. The News Memo consists of multiple Newsbites (small one paragraph stories that we think are important) and a few full-length stories that we think are critical for our subscribers to know in more depth.
On certain issues such as foreign war, we are reliant on sources such as the Wall Street Journal and the BBC, which have reporters on the ground. Otherwise, we try to prioritize first-hand reports and original sources instead of relying on a legacy media recap. Whenever possible, we favor independent journalists - people such as Bari Weiss, The Free Press, Matt Taibi, Michael Shellenberger and Andy Ngô.
The News Memo generally takes about 10 hours in total to write, edit and send each week.
Why become a paid subscriber?
$4 is the new $1. We spend $4 everyday on insignificant items without even thinking - $4 for a coffee, a McChicken, a new streaming service, nicotine…For the same $4 you can support our work and receive a news brief that makes you smarter, more interesting to talk to, and better engaged with the world.
The paid version of The News Memo is the best experience:
The Full News Memo every week, including the Trends stories. Trends are often the crown jewel in terms of a story that is interesting to read and discuss among your colleagues and friends.
Bonus pieces. (i.e., “10 Beautiful Movies Worth Your Time”)
Access to The News Memo Discord channel, where you can provide input and help shape the future of the Memo.
Exclusive access to TNM apparel at cost.
What Subscribers Say
"The News Memo is a breath of fresh air. It's become my only source for staying aware of what's going on around the country and the new subscription rate is still cheaper than any other newspaper!" - The McCartney’s
I am more than happy to join as a subscriber to continue receiving these news updates in such a manageable, thoughtful, and unbiased format." - Bethany
"Being aware of the rest of the world broadens my horizons of my daily life. Also, it is fascinating. " - Grace
You have stricken the right level of depth for me: not too detailed but also thorough enough. Balanced, not overtly political one side or the other. Some fun facts." - Isma
