The Dispatch occupies a unique position in the conservative media ecosystem.

The publication was launched in 2019 in the wake of the collapse of the Weekly Standard, where Hayes was editor-in-chief, and amid Trump-induced soul searching at the National Review, where Goldberg was a prominent editor. It has attempted to offer right-leaning news and opinion that supports conservative policies and occasionally dings Trump from a more traditional small government perspective, without alienating the president’s Republican supporters.

As I wrote last year, that’s left The Dispatch somewhat politically isolated: It’s viewed with skepticism by the diehard MAGA crowd, but garners a much smaller audience than publications like The Bulwark, the digital startup founded by former Republican media figures that has built a large business on Substack and YouTube through vocal criticism of Trump.

The Dispatch’s leaders seemed to recognize some of the limitations of their stance. The company made the decision last year to pivot and cater to right-leaning DC and business professionals, leaning into a business-to-business media model that would complement its existing political fare — and set it up to compete more directly with newsrooms like Politico, which Axel Springer owns.

The Dispatch acquired the popular legal site Scotusblog and launched Dispatch Energy, an editorial product focused on global energy markets and policy in Washington. Rothman told Semafor at the time that there was sponsorship demand for the Dispatch’s energy coverage, and he saw the publication “occupying a third-space that leverages the rigor typically associated with institutional media on one side and the trusted ‘experts’-experts’ of the creator economy on the other.”