The New Media Firm

05/25/2026

Congratulations to the drivers, organizers, and union leadership who made history in Massachusetts. After years of organizing, conversations at airports, rallies, caravans, petition drives, and countless hours of grassroots work, rideshare drivers officially became the first in the nation to unionize.

We are deeply grateful for the opportunity we had to do the media for the ballot measure campaign and to support the organizing effort after it. This victory belongs to the workers who refused to give up and kept fighting for dignity, fairness, flexibility, and a real voice on the job.

This is what happens when workers organize together. Congratulations to everyone who made history.

After an agonizing, years-long effort, Uber and Lyft must negotiate with drivers who want a larger share of the industry’s earnings.

05/25/2026

We Remember

05/21/2026

The leaked DNC autopsy is messy, unfinished, and in places factually shaky. But buried inside it is a truth many of us have been saying for years: Democrats cannot keep showing up late, spending billions, renting attention from platforms and stations we do not own, and then wondering why voters do not feel connected to us. Whether you agree with the autopsy or not, this is a conversation Democrats need to have. I’m less focused on the strategic and tactical mistakes the individual campaigns made and more focused on the larger structural mistakes Democrats continue to make as a party and communications ecosystem.
If you disagree with what I’m writing, let me know. But please share it so we can keep the conversation going.

- Will Robinson

The leaked DNC autopsy is messy, unfinished, and in places factually shaky. But buried inside it is a truth many of us have been saying for years.

05/10/2026

Some Democrats are making a dangerous assumption again:
That Republicans will simply collapse under the weight of their own extremism.
We’ve heard this before - in 2010, 2014, 2016, and 2024. And every time, Democrats underestimated the right’s ability to organize early, dominate the information environment, and reshape the political landscape before most people even realized the election had already started.
2026 is not guaranteed.
Republicans are already massively outspending Democrats in key races, building always-on media ecosystems, tightening voting rules, and shaping public perception every single day while too many Democrats are still waiting for “campaign season.”
The House map is hard. The Senate map is brutal. And losing governors races in Michigan or Wisconsin could weaken Democratic infrastructure for years.
The election is not next fall.
It’s happening right now.
Please read and share my new Substack on why Democrats need to wake up and start acting like they could lose:



https://willrobinson.substack.com/p/losing-elections-has-consequences?r=77gcg&utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web&utm_id=97757_v0_s00_e232_tv2_tp1_a1dennhb8x1h56&fbclid=IwY2xjawRtnaFleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZBAyMjIwMzkxNzg4MjAwODkyAAEeMh_jw4oWWam7ufU2mg9yMmjETIfqLdVF9988KO6jlQKaEMOikoebjqZTisE_aem_hlsrQ81hWed2DJCAvRJX_g&triedRedirect=true

But Some Democrats Still Believe 2026 Will Take Care of Itself.

04/29/2026

Worth paying attention to this article by Tom Edsall.

AI isn’t just another tech shift - it’s accelerating how information is created, targeted, and pushed out at a scale we haven’t really dealt with before. That means what you see, what you believe, and even what feels “real” can be shaped faster and more precisely than ever.

The risk isn’t some distant future scenario - it’s that most people don’t realize how quickly this is already happening.

Bottom line: if you’re not paying attention to how AI is shaping the information around you, you’re already behind it.

As AI reshapes persuasion, speed, and scale, the real disruption isn’t just the technology - it’s a political world that hasn’t caught up to the new rules of communication.

04/27/2026

Some national Democrats are starting to act as if Republican weakness automatically equals Democratic strength. It does not. Voters can dislike Trump, distrust Republicans, feel disappointed in Democrats, and stay home.
That is especially dangerous heading into 2026.
Democrats have a real chance to win back the House, but the number of truly marginal seats is small.
The Senate is harder. The path runs through a handful of difficult races.
And 2028 is not some distant abstraction. The Democratic presidential path still runs through the Blue Wall states - states Democrats have lost two of the last three presidential elections. At the same time, post-2030 reapportionment will shift electoral votes away from those states.
That means the Blue Wall alone will not be enough.
The 2028 Presidential election is only 924 days away. So Democrats need to start now and implement change in 2026.
Not with a new slogan. Not with a new dashboard. Not with one more poll-tested national message.
We need a commitment to organizing, communication, and innovation at the same time.



https://willrobinson.substack.com/p/the-democratic-party-is-falling-behind?utm_id=97758_v0_s00_e223_tv0&fbclid=IwY2xjawRcrK5leHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZBAyMjIwMzkxNzg4MjAwODkyAAEe3B6_VBByBOWVpd60JPKcxiPEzIRStbiCJA1i5-VL6kpEltgT3FZtgyvLILw_aem_bvpSeHXHpA0FMOz2gVIMGQ

The Democratic Party is built to operate in a world that no longer exists.

04/26/2026

Democrats don’t lose because they don’t care.
They lose because they haven’t adapted.
We’re still running a playbook built for a media world that no longer exists - while the right built an always-on machine that talks to people every day.
That’s the trap: the same habits that once won are now holding us back.
And the stakes are getting worse:
Very few truly marginal House seats.
A tough Senate map.
And a presidential map that’s getting harder - not easier.
We don’t have time to wait.
Persuasion is daily now. Trust is local. Connection is everything.
If we keep overinvesting in late ads and underinvesting in real relationships, we’re playing from behind.
Start now - or fall further behind.
Read + share if you think it’s time to change.

The Democratic Party is built to operate in a world that no longer exists.

04/22/2026

AI’s Promise Is Real. So Is the Threat No One’s Talking About.
Beyond deepfakes, bad actors are learning to manipulate search itself - shaping what AI sees, what it surfaces, and ultimately what people believe.

Please read and share.

Beyond deepfakes, bad actors are learning to manipulate search itself - shaping what AI sees, what it surfaces, and ultimately what people believe.

04/17/2026

AI doesn’t create power. It reveals who already built it — and who didn’t.

AI isn’t changing politics the way people think it is.

Everyone’s focused on tools - who’s using AI faster, who’s generating more content, who’s experimenting more aggressively.

That’s not the real story.

AI is exposing something much more fundamental: whether you’ve actually built power in this media environment.

Because AI doesn’t create reach, trust, or credibility. It amplifies what’s already there.

If you’ve built real audiences, trusted messengers, and a system that shows up consistently - AI makes you stronger.

If you haven’t, it just makes the gap visible faster.

This piece is about that divide - and why the future of political persuasion isn’t about better tools, but better systems.

Please read and share.

It’s Exposing What Already Matters.

04/14/2026

Most people remember moments.
A. Philip Randolph built the power behind them.
He didn’t wait for a viral moment, a big rally, or the perfect speech.
He spent years organizing - building networks, trust, and a message people believed in - so when the moment came, it actually mattered.
That’s the lesson for now:
Don’t chase moments.
Build the infrastructure that makes moments powerful.
👉 Grow real audiences, not just impressions
👉 Repeat clear, simple messages people can carry
👉 Show up with people, not just content
Because pressure only works when it’s real - and power only shows up when it’s already been built.

Build Power Before the Moment, Not During It