• by Melynda Fuller , January 17, 2020

As the 2020 election cycle heats up, The Economist is introducing a newsletter and podcast called “Checks and Balance,” in addition to launching a multiplatform marketing campaign to boost readership and subscriptions across the U.S.

“Checks and Balance” offers a roundup of the magazine’s best election coverage in each week’s newsletter and a focus on a specific theme shaping up in the race in its podcast.

The newsletter launches today and will land in subscribers’ emails every Friday evening. John Prideaux, U.S. editor, will write an introduction for each edition. Readers will find a subscriber-only analysis of the latest polling data from The Economist’s data journalists.

Prideax stated the goal is to “give our readers and listeners fair-minded analysis in what will be an emotionally charged media environment. Although the reporting from our U.S.-based correspondents will be local, the election coverage will put what is happening in an international context.”

Prideax will host the “Checks and Balance” podcast with Charlotte Howard, New York bureau chief, and Jon Fasman, Washington correspondent. The first 30-minute episode launches January 24.

The Economist depends on North America for 55% of its 1.6 million print and digital circulation. It saw a significant boost to its base from the 2016 election until the end of Trump’s first 100 days in office. During that period, the outlet reported a 19% increase in digital subscriptions across North America and globally.

The marketing campaign supports the new products through owned, earned and paid media channels, leveraging The Economists print and online editions, social-media marketing and the outlet’s podcasts, like “The Economist Asks” and “The Intelligence,” which will also run ads.

Student-focused marketing campaigns will appear on- and offline; an experiential campaign is set to launch in March.