US-based investigative journalism outlet The Lever has seen free subscribers increase by two-thirds since 2025 after slowing its output as a reaction to the frenetic pace of news during the second Trump presidency.
The title launched as a daily newsletter in 2020 by ex-Guardian US columnist David Sirota, a speechwriter and senior adviser for the Bernie Sanders 2020 presidential campaign.
When six vacant positions are filled The Lever will have a record headount of 21 staff.
Yet it has gone from publishing “one completely original, highly reported story every day” to around two to three a week, said managing editor Joel Warner
“We aren’t afraid to just not put something out on a given day. We think it’s about quality, not quantity…
“Definitely during the Trump administration, where there’s so much going on… I think the bar is much higher,” he said.
“So I do think that the sort of story that might have captured attention two or three years ago might not now, and that’s why I think all of our team have really raised the bar in terms of being as discerning as possible about the stories that people will be interested in,” said Warner.
He referred to a recent investigation into a train derailment from more than three years ago where a reporter found a “record-breaking” class-action settlement had failed to reach claimants: “People weren’t getting the money that they were promised.
“The lawyers were getting paid off. And so that was a story that, once again, took us several months, and that was a bit of a gamble.
“It really is less the subject and more about like when we can do good old-fashioned investigator reporting and expose something new,” said Warner.
Metered paywall launched
The Lever’s metered paywall was introduced in 2025 after previously operating on a donation model similar to The Guardian, which allowed for readers to become paid subscribers and receive perks including exclusive columns, weekend round-ups of good news.
Now readers can register for three free articles a month and a daily newsletter. For $10 a month readers get unlimited monthly access to the sit as well as ad-free podcast listening and access to live virtual events.
“We call it a very porous paywall,” said Warner, adding that readers are encouraged to email in and request free access if they can’t afford a subscription.
“I think the jury still out on whether it makes sense to continue to have this paywall or are there other better ways to really foster engagement on the website,” he added.
The Lever operates as a website, two podcasts and ten newsletters (one daily, one delivered “most days of the week”, four weekly and four sporadically). Its newsletters and website all sit on the Ghost publishing system.
According to Similarweb the site received around 236,000 visits in May. Warner said the site hit 2.5 million web visits in 2025.
The Lever does not disclose paid subscribers, but has more than 260,000 free subscribers – an increase of 66% since 2025. Warner attributes this to the growth of the newsbrand’s newsletter Lever Daily and the popularity of its podcast Master Plan, which is in its second season and spawned a print book.
The seasonal podcast drops episodes fortnightly, available for free with ads on Apple and Spotify.
Paid growth up 10% in 2025
Paid subscribers are said to be up 10% in 2025, compared with 16.5% in 2024.
Paid-only features including a weekly news quiz and Midterm Mania and a newsletter dedicated to the midterm elections launched at the end of May. The site also still runs its digital tip jar for donations is “always doing gangbusters”, said Warner, as well as quarterly fundraising drives.
It received around 2,000 donations in 2025.
Rolling out discounted subscription offers and deals has proven to help The Lever convert subscribers: “People like when we give them, for example, free copies of the digital version of our new Master Plan book,” said Warner, adding the newsbrand manages to retain these subscribers as “people really feel ownership over what we do, and feel that they’re part of this team”.
“And we find, in general, that once people become paid subscribers, they’re much more likely to, for example, donate additional funds through the tip jar or find other ways to support us.”
The Lever’s revenue stream hasn’t changed since 2024, Warner said, with this mostly taken up with subscriber payments and donations, though it gets a “small chunk” from direct-sold and sponsorship ads on newsletters, its website and its podcast.
The Lever is also applying this slower approach to November’s mid-term election coverage, beginning investigations early to get a head start on national newsbrands.
“We’re never going to beat the big players in terms of the number of reporters they can throw at these various political races around the country, but we feel that if we can get a head start and start really tracking the money and connecting the dots between these various dark money groups and shell operations that we might have a way in.”
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