Big News: Starting Line Expands With Daily Democrat Merger

I’m excited to announce today that the Iowa Daily Democrat will be merging with Iowa Starting Line to create the largest progressive/Democratic-leaning news site in the state. This is a big step forward for everyone involved and will help us further the cause of spreading the progressive message in Iowa, along with providing unique insight and analysis of Iowa politics.

Here’s the details:

• Iowa Daily Democrat’s new content will be moved to Starting Line’s website. Right now when you view the website on desktop there’s a section on the right that will fill with Daily Democrat stories. We’re still working on the mobile version – expect tweaks to both over the next week.

• I will run the joint effort and take over the day-to-day technical operation and directional focus of both.

• Rick Smith, the managing editor of the Iowa Daily Democrat, will organize guest posts, focus on editorial content and continue to write himself.

• The founders of the Iowa Daily Democrat – Jack Hatch, Charlotte Hubbel and Tim Urban – will help with financing and guest writing.

• The daily newsletter from the Iowa Daily Democrat will continue to go out, the stories will just be hosted on Starting Line’s website now.

• Our social media and email lists will help each other spread our stories further than we could on our own.

One other thing it will help that I’m particularly thankful for – with the many guest writers Daily Democrat brings, I won’t feel like I personally have to write something every single day. That should give me time for more unique, in-depth stories that may take an extra day to track down all the information. I know those are the type of stories my readers enjoy most, so expect to see more of them.

Oh, and to my Republican readers (I know I have quite a few): don’t worry, I’ll still strive to do the interesting breaking news and objective analysis that lets you put up with reading this evil Democrat’s website.

I’d also like to say how very appreciative I am of Hatch, Hubbel, Urban and Smith for wanting to go into this joint venture. It makes a lot of sense and helps both our causes and the overall movement. For those of you who follow Iowa Democratic politics closely, you know that the thing that “makes sense” does not always happen. I’m very excited to see what we can accomplish going forward.

Over a year and a half ago, I launched Starting Line to help Democrats where they were struggling in 2014: online messaging and social media. We have accomplished that goal. During the 2014 campaign, conservatives in Iowa held too big an influence in key campaigns thanks to their online news and social media advantage. Today, progressive outlets are overwhelming the dominant force in Iowa thanks to both our efforts and those of Bleeding Heartland, Blog for Iowa and John Deeth. It’s a complete sea change, and it happened in really just one year.

More than that, however, I wanted to provide a resource that no one else was – the perspective of a former Democratic staffer on how Iowa politics were actually working behind the scenes. I hope I’ve accomplished that as well for you, and that my readers understand what goes into Iowa campaigns a little better thanks to my articles.

Now, with the help of the Iowa Daily Democrat crew, we move forward to even bigger and better things.

“Stronger Together,” as they say.

by Pat Rynard
Posted 8/22/16