The Future of First Things

I hope you like our new website. Our content remains first-rate. Now, the internet delivers timely and timeless writing to you in a more delightful format. When designing the look and feel of the website, our ambition was simple. We sought to give online readers the same refined elegance that print subscribers receive when their copies of First Things arrive in their mailboxes. 

Count me among those who regard the digital age with ambivalence. Sure, it’s great to have so much at my fingertips, ready to read with just a few taps on my keyboard. But it has made publication more complicated.

In the old days, readers sent in checks, and we sent out magazines. That still happens, but more and more readers came to know First Things primarily as a digital publication, reading articles online and receiving our regular newsletters in their inboxes. 

Online publication has expanded our readership. Readers share links on social media. Google searches direct people to our website. Over the last two decades, our list of paid subscribers has fluctuated between 25,000 and 30,000. Online readership has grown. The website received nearly one million pageviews per month, and we garner more than three million unique visitors per year. 

But the pace of innovation is rapid. The old website was rolled out ten years ago, making it something like 100 in digital years. Redesign of the technical underpinning of our operations became an imperative. 

I won’t bore you with technical details. (A year ago, if someone talked to me about the CMS—shorthand for content management system—I would have drawn a complete blank.) But as a devoted reader, you need to know how this website will function and what we hope to accomplish.

Right now, the website can be visited by anyone at any time—as often as one likes. This will change. Let me explain.

The old website gated access to articles from the print magazine, limiting readers to three free articles per month before hitting a paywall. Reading more required a subscription.

After the present period of all-free access, we will re-institute the paywall. Our plan involves a more sophisticated, two-tiered approach. 

Level One: After reading two or three articles, readers will hit a registration wall. The demand will be simple: Enter your email and establish a password. This will make you a registered reader of First Things, allowing you to continue to read America’s most important journal of religion and public life.

Level Two: You are a very devoted reader. You’ve registered and continue to read. At a certain point (say, after reading as few as five or as many as ten articles—we’re still refining our approach), you will hit the paywall. At this point, you will need to subscribe to continue reading our great articles.

“Wait a minute,” I can hear you saying, “you want me to pay?” Yes. 

Notice that the new website does not have a big banner ad running across the top. Notice that you are not constantly harassed by pop-up ads and interrupted by ads inserted into the articles. We may place discrete ads in the future, but for the most part we are forsaking ad revenue to give you a better experience as a reader.

And here’s the most important reason for you to subscribe. Jesus makes a crucial observation: Where your treasure is, there is your heart also. First Things is more than a publication. It is a community of readers, writers, and editors committed to the life of faith and the life of the mind. We are a nonprofit, and we thrive because of the generosity of many donors. Subscribing is itself a contribution, a small sign of your commitment to our work. So, if you’re not on our rolls, please click the subscribe button and become part of the First Things community.

Enjoy the new website. And thank you for being a reader.