The Power Of Substack On Journalism
Substack is a publishing powerhouse, it's easy to start a newsletter there, for free, and charge for access. But is it bad for the democratization of publishing? I'm not sure.
Substack had its issues in the past with platforming Neo Nazi viewpoints. Lots of people fled the platform when they found out. But people's memories are fleeting and many mainstream journalists are starting to setup their newsletters on Substack. Heck, even the term Substack is becoming synonymous with the term newsletter like how the term Google is with synonymous with searching the Web.
I've gotten into disagreements with journalist, who I have immense respect for, over using Substack for their newsletter system. And some make decent points.
Famed technology journalist and former reporter for the New York Times and the Washington post, Taylor Lorenz has said Substack enabled her to start her newsletter, UserMag, easily and freely (obviously sans the platform's percentage take of the paid subscriber fees). She's gotten blow back on social media for her choice.
Mike Elgan, another well known technology journalist, podcaster, and pundit, who I really enjoy, and often agree with, disagreed with me that Substack is bad and should be avoided.
I asked for his thoughts on this piece:
I agree with Mike to an extent, here. If it's legal it should be allowed and people can vote with their wallets, but what concerns me is that so many journalist are escaping the traditional journalism apparatus and setting up shop on Substack, with what I suspect, not knowing if it's the right place for them. It's more an exercise in being a "Lemming."
Yes, you can export your content and move it to another platform. And, yes you can move your list. But with the viral nature of the platform many people are blinded by the shiny object and also not realizing that they are giving up 10% or more of their membership revenue to Substack if they charge for their content.
I'm torn with the idea of Substack. I first started this newsletter there, then moved it to a self-hosted and custom WordPress solution, finally landing on the Ghost CMS.
I know of a few popular writers who moved off of Substack when the whole "platforming of Nazis" happened. That's when I jumped ship as well.
Many of these ex-Substackers are happy with their move to other platforms. I know Casey Newton, of the Platformer.news newsletter, who moved to Ghost has said publicly that he's happy with the move. Ryan Broderick of the Garbage Day newsletter moved to Beehiiv and has said that he's happy he did that move as well.
I like the idea of the social-nature of Substack, but with their hockey stick growth and "EVERYONE" flocking to put their newsletters there, I fear a potential lock down of content at some point. Hell, I'm probably crazy. But, I can't help but be concerned.
Ultimately, it's personal choice on both sides. If you like the writer–support them. If you're not thrilled with the service–vote with you wallet.
What do you think am I nuts? Or am I on to something? Let me know!
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