Modernizing the True North Strategic Review
Its time for an update, and some changes to how things are done.
Sometimes you need a refresh.
When I first started writing on here regularly at the beginning of the year, I never could have imagined I’d be in this position. I talk a lot about TNSR’s growth. I think it’s important to be open and accessible about who we are and what we’re doing.
As many of you know from yesterday, TNSR has grown exponentially in the last three months. Our monthly viewership has exploded by over 300%, and our subscribers have more than doubled.
TNSR has not had a proper modernization since May. That’s partially on me for putting it off. I knew this would be inevitable with the expansion of my audience and the various demands that come with it.
For some, TNSR exists to hear my opinions. For others, it’s a newsletter, or even their primary news source. The last two months have been a lot of trial and error. We added press releases, thanks to the many companies and people willing to provide them.
We’ve also added Noah Notes, trialed audio content, and tested various content schedules. Even if it wasn’t announced, this modernization has been in the works for a while.
I even added another researcher to TNSR, my faithful and underpaid Arjun, who has been working tirelessly to take some of the research and administrative burden off me.
Together we’ve been going over the best route and strategies to take TNSR to the next level. I also can’t discount all of you, who have maintained a healthy and active community for me to lean on.
Every day I get to talk to all of you, and with that, I get to hear firsthand how many of you feel about my content. I can’t thank you enough for being willing to support me in this endeavor.
I love talking to people. I love hearing from all of you, even if my replies can be spotty. Being able to have conversations and be accessible to my audience is important to me. I want you to come to me, talk to me. I want to hear opinions and ideas.
At the end of the day, this modernization is for you—to better support your content habits, to better educate, and to give you more of what you want.
Yesterday we launched our End of the Year Survey. I want to stress that this has been planned for a while and will be trialed while the survey is ongoing. The survey, in turn, will help refine these changes and perhaps help address issues I might have missed.
This is a trial. I don’t expect this to be a one-and-done process. This will be an incremental, phased modernization that will likely stretch out over the next few months. While the majority of changes for you will be relatively quick, there are long-term goals we aim to achieve.
That will come after the survey is done so we can better map out the medium- and long-term goals. For now, several changes will be made over the next few weeks. These changes will give you more independence in what you see, more content, and a better experience when visiting TNSR.
We will be remaining on Substack for the foreseeable future. I would love my own site, but that takes time—and truthfully, I enjoy the ease that Substack provides. Not only that, but our subscription service is tied here, which makes switching over a hassle.
Our goal is to use Substack and its tools to the fullest so your experience can be just as good as visiting any other site. That means some radical thinking is in order.
Before I ramble on too long, let’s get to the changes themselves.
Launching True North Strategic News
The first and biggest change of this modernization is the launch of a new, dedicated news section for TNSR.
True North Strategic News (ain’t I great at naming?) aims to declutter the site and address one of the most common complaints I’ve heard in the last two months—the addition of press releases.
I’m grateful to receive press releases from companies. I’m also happy to post them if it ensures the news reaches a wider audience. My goal is to educate, and many of these press releases are missed by sites like CDR. That gave me an incentive to get them out there.
When I first started posting them, I assumed not much would change. Sadly, I underestimated the strain they put on all of you. The addition of press releases has been overwhelmingly positive, but a good chunk of you don’t care for them much.
I also understand that they clog your inboxes, with several of you reaching out to say you unsubscribed over the quantity of them. At the end of the day, I want to accommodate as many of you as I can.
It’s difficult with the tools available to easily fix this issue. Substack isn’t designed for selective emailing of what people want. So we had to get creative.
TNSR will now be split into two separate sections: True North Strategic Review and True North Strategic News.
This change will free up TNSR for more of my own content and provide a proper, dedicated news space for the dozen or so press releases we do per week.
This gives you the freedom to choose which content you see and which content you receive. By going into your subscription settings, you can now toggle email notifications for whichever section of TNSR you like.
If you don’t want to see press releases and minor news, you can toggle off TNSN. This will take some adjustment, but I believe it’s for the best. I want everyone to enjoy the content they like—and if that isn’t minor news, you don’t have to get spammed by it.
Everyone is automatically subscribed to TNSN by default. That means if you enjoy receiving everything, nothing changes for you.
However, this gives you the freedom to turn it off if you want, or turn it back on later. The choice is yours. If you don’t like podcasts, you can also do this for Let’s Talk with Noah.
Starting next week, content that falls under TNSN will include:
Press releases
Industry news
Minor government news
My mini-series, such as The Donjek Update or Where Was Stephen Fuhr?
This will leave the main TNSR section dedicated to my opinion pieces, my own analysis, and major news. Things like my Korean updates, modernization pieces, and the HIMARS announcement will remain on TNSR proper, as they include my analysis.
If the majority of you decide something should fall on the other site, we can adjust. For now, I think this works. I also want to stress that Noah Notes will continue on TNSN, so you’ll still get tastes of my analysis over there too.
Both This Week in Defence and Let’s Talk with Noah will remain on TNSR. That means no matter what, you’ll receive your weekly roundup of news in your email. Many of you who didn’t like the press emails said you preferred this format over getting each release individually.
These changes should address the concerns about the email system and clear up some of the clutter on TNSR. That’s the perfect segue into the next change.
An Updated Look
I didn’t like how TNSR looked. I admit it. I didn’t like the format, the appearance, or how things were laid out—especially for desktop users. Those of you who use the app are stuck with Substack’s format, which I can’t change.
But I can change both the desktop and mobile browser layout. This new format is fresher, better structured, and easier to navigate. I’ve also added all my links.
This format will likely shift in the coming weeks. Many of you also complained about the colours, and we’re discussing modernizing those as well.
Overall, I’m far happier with this look. It’s more professional, cleaner, and should resolve some navigation complaints.
Content Changes
For a long time, I had no proper schedule or setup for how I put out content. My style has always been reactive—little planning involved. I go with the flow.
There’s always demand for more content. I know that. My policy has often been to focus on large, in-depth pieces—often 4,000+ words—every two weeks.
But as many of you point out, that isn’t enough. I hear you. So we’re making changes. I’ve been trying to put out smaller, shorter opinion articles throughout the week. Some of these are reactive, but I want to get into the habit of planning things out.
I’ll still be doing long-form content—you’re getting one this weekend—but I’ve made it a goal to start putting out one opinion piece per week.
This doesn’t include news coverage. This will be a dedicated opinion piece ranging from about 1,500–2,000 words. These shorter pieces are still substantial while providing the consistency you’ve asked for.
I also received a lot of positive feedback on the Joly article. I’m not committed yet, but if you want to see more responses like that, let me know. I’m open to it.
I’ll also be doing more Noah Notes, filling the quick, under-1,500-word category. Many of you enjoy the added context and details, and I’m committed to doing them more regularly.
This Week in Defence and Let’s Talk with Noah will remain the same. That means you’re still guaranteed the newsletter, Q&A, and one opinion article per week.
Long-form content will be more spaced out, but that gives me more time to research and refine the pieces you all love. I have a few in the pipeline.
I also aim to do at least one project rundown a month. You’re getting one this weekend. That’s something many of you originally came here for, and I plan to deliver.
Again, this doesn’t include my own news coverage or event coverage. You’ll still get plenty of content.
New Content
Another hot topic—and not as fun. I want to experiment. I want to do new things. But that’s easier said than done.
There will be more audio content. I want to do more. There are plans. But getting people to sit down with me is still difficult. I’m meeting more people, though I still lack the connections major outlets have for big interviews.
I am getting more active in relationship building, however it still takes time to build up trust and reputation enough where people will sit with you.
Hopefully that changes over time. I’ve debated doing more solo audio content—that’s on the table. I also want to do more interviews. I’ve got some ideas.
For those of you who want to sit and talk, my door is open. You can still reach me at info@truenorthstrategicreview.ca
Sadly, this will still be a slow process for now. It won’t be overnight that audio content becomes regular.
As for video content—it’s off the table. I can’t attend events or do much in person. I make a decent income, but not enough to travel frequently. I also have kids, so that’s a factor too. I can’t justify the costs. CANSEC alone cost me nearly $2,100 out of pocket.
So while I’d love to do more of that—and to visit all of you who invite me—it’s just not financially possible most of the time.
For now, I want to focus on perfecting my writing and content schedule while mixing in a healthy dose of experimentation with audio content. That feels like the golden mix.
One thing I do want to try is hosting more virtual events. We did an ASW lecture a few months ago. I want to do another and maybe host some roundtables or discussions in the future. Could be fun.
I want to make this good for all of you. You’re always encouraging, always cheering me on. So many of you have written kind, heartfelt words in the survey, and that’s been a huge morale boost.
The last two months have been draining. There’s new news almost every week. I have a day job, and I’m now putting upwards of 20+ hours a week into TNSR.
Your contributions and support push me to do more. I love doing this. I love this community. I love talking about these things. All of you make that possible.
This is only phase one. More changes will come, and you should treat these as a test while we figure out what works. More is coming. You’ll be getting both a new opinion piece and a new project rundown this week.
And as always, if you’re interested in getting in contact, or if you’d like to volunteer to help with the podcast section wink wink, you can reach us at info@truenorthstrategicreview.ca.
Never feel afraid to reach out there or by DM. I’m almost always available somewhere!
Thanks Noah, I'm a recent subscriber to High North News, but I've found it a very useful site and a great place to get a real insight into what's going on on your side of the Atlantic. Keep up the good work and I look forward to seeing how this site develops in future.