Reasons to subscribe to The Dispatch, from investigations to crosswords
We at The Dispatch are committed first and foremost to serving Greater Columbus. We've been doing it now for 151 years, and we will continue to do so.
Just in the past year, we've renewed our commitment with our Mobile Newsroom initiative focused on underserved areas, our Columbus Conversations series on local issues, the Storytellers project and countless stories of central Ohioans.
In your experience with The Dispatch, we hope you can see how much we put into our journalism. It takes time and money to tell these stories.
And we hope, if you enjoy The Dispatch, that you will consider supporting this invaluable work by subscribing.
If you already subscribe, thanks so much for the support.
If you still need convincing, or want to know how to get the most out of your subscription, here is a little bit more about what it gets you:
Subscribe now:Check out this deal on subscriptions
Enterprise investigations only available to subscribers
We have certain stories on our website marked subscriber-only. Often these are pieces our reporters have spent weeks or months diving into.
Some of those projects include:
Mike Wagner, Jennifer Smola Shaffer and Max Filby found the state medical board for years didn't do enough to warn and protect the public from medical professionals who serial sexual abusers and harassers despite a decades-long history of doctors preying on patients. The medical board's investigations have been shrouded in secrecy with just a fraction of the allegations ever being made public.
Sheridan Hendrix broke the story that OSU President Dr. Kristina Johnson planned to step down. Reporter Mike Wagner then followed up with an exclusive interview with Dr. Johnson in which she said she was proud of her tenure, and she had “no regrets."
City Hall reporter Bill Bush wrote about how the Columbus Crew gets to rent Lower.com field for $10 a month, but after a review of records found that the team was late with its payments.
Mark Ferenchik and Danae King's reporting on how redlining practices decades ago still influence life in Columbus neighborhoods
Laura Bischoff's investigation into how Ohio's youth prison system is grappling with violence and staff departures
Taijuan Moorman's data-driven look at inflation and rising food costs
Mark Williams' unparalleled coverage of Ohio's Intel project, including a visit to the its Arizona operations
Bethany Bruner's analysis of how teens in a car thefts have become victims, suspects in slayings
You can get far more stories exclusively for subscribers at dispatch.com/for-subscribers/.
Insightful commentary into sports
But it's not only news and business investigations that subscribers get. Our columnists take a closer examination of what's going on to provide you fresh perspectives and analysis.
One of our two sports columnists, Rob Oller, has been writing about Ohio State sports for decades and offers important historical perspective when he is analyzing the latest game or news. Recently, he's talked about the most underrated Ohio State football players of all time, the violence of a 1972 basketball brawl and the legacy of Jack Nicklaus.
Columnist Michael Arace writes about local hockey, soccer and more news from the wider sports world. Subscribers can catch his opinions on the Blue Jackets, the Crew and legends of Columbus basketball.
Support essential breaking news and community service
But we do more for the community besides investigations and commentary. Most of our resources daily are devoted to bring you information that keeps you safe and informed about your community.
Across our website, we bring you extensive coverage of COVID-19, weather events, business developments, entertainment, state politics, things to do, education and so much more. Not to mention the community discussions we help facilitate in our opinion section and in our event series, Columbus Conversations.
With your subscription, you help us continue to do this work that benefits all of Greater Columbus.
To stay up to date with these stories and many others, consider signing up for news alerts via email or our app.
Email newsletters from our staff
When you become a subscriber, you automatically get Your Week in Columbus, a newsletter just for subscribers with behind-the-scenes commentary from editors about how our biggest stories of the week came to be.
From there, you can enjoy any of our other newsletters, all of which are open to anyone:
The Mobile Newsroom, about our initiative in underserved neighborhoods
The Daily Briefing, daily top headlines
OSU Headlines
Life in the 614, filled with things to do over the weekend
The Columbus Conversation, our Opinion newsletter
Afternoon Update, daily top headlines at 3 p.m.
Ohio Politics and The Scoop
CBJ Today, updates from the Columbus Blue Jackets beat
Extra Credit, what's going on in local K-12 schools and colleges
Evening Update, daily top headlines at 7:30 p.m.
Access to everything on our app and website
Of course your subscription gets you unlimited access to our responsive website at Dispatch.com, plus our Ohio State sports site, BuckeyeXtra.com.
And we have a great app, The Columbus Dispatch, which is found on the App Store and Google Play. There, you can sign up for news alerts, save favorite stories and more.
The Dispatch e-edition
All subscribers get access to The Columbus Dispatch e-edition, a digital version of our printed paper that allows you to turn pages and zoom in on stories. Designed seven days a week, it also comes with Bonus Content in the form of special sections and national news.
Exclusive sports texting groups
One of our newest subscriber benefits is a connection to some of our sports reporters, including Ohio State basketball reporter Adam Jardy and Ohio State football insiders Bill Rabinowitz and Joey Kaufman. Subscribers can sign up to get updates and analysis from them delivered right to their phones, and ask them questions in return.
Access to other USA TODAY NETWORK products
The Dispatch is part of the USA TODAY NETWORK, a group of more than 200 newspapers around the U.S., plus the flagship USA TODAY and companion websites.
That means that if you're a subscriber, you can:
Read USA TODAY and any other paper in our network with your e-edition
Get access to exclusive interviews and analysis with the Sports Plus website
Listen to articles on Dispatch.com
It's important to have options when consuming news, and we're excited to offer a new choice, just for logged-in subscribers: Hear This Story is a tool to stay up to date on the exclusive, subscriber-only content that only The Dispatch can offer.
With this audio feature, subscribers can click the button at the top of any article labeled "For Subscribers" and a realistic AI newscaster will read the story out loud to you.
Ryan E. Smith is an assistant metro editor at The Dispatch. Contact him at rsmith@dispatch.com or on Twitter @readryansmith.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus Dispatch subscription connects you to journalism, benefits
