Substack Is Having a Moment—Again. But Time Is Running Out

Before June 8, The qualified and respected television journalist ABC Hebc, Terry Moran, was neither a familiar name nor a political lightning rod. Who changed suddenly when Moran Posted on X Donald Trump’s deputy chief of staff, Stephen Miller, was “a world class hate”, followed by an addendum that the president was also a hateful. (THE job was removed later.) Although the declarations are certainly defendable, they apparently violated the ABC and Moran policy was suspended, then rejected. Moran, however, had a movement on the left. On June 11, he started writing on Bask.

Moran joined a movement based on a dream: journalists could start a substitute newsletter and garner subscription costs that would correspond or exceed their previous wages. And they would be released editorially! No publisher to screw up the copy, no censorship of the bosses when advertisers complain, no business overlord to fire you when you say that the President of the United States is a hateful. Substack says that some people live the dream. CEO Chris Best recently boasted in a speech That “more than 50” of its users dreamed a million dollars in revenues.

As more journalists get pushed Out of their work, being fed up with their patterns, or just want to breathe the fresh air of freedom, they now have what seems to be a viable evacuation hatch. Recently, many of them take advantage of it. Jeff Bezos was good in suspicion: the recent apparent disinterest of the Washington Post editorial page to prevent democracy from dying led the Popular Opinion editor Jennifer Rubin to Start a publication called the counterand caricaturist of the censored editorial publication Ann Telnaes Published now Also on substitution. The former MSNBC host Mehdi Hassan began his own publication. Even Chuck Todd has become independent.

You might be tempted to think that the subordinate revolution shakes the foundations of journalism, agree with Subaltern star Emily Sundberg That press leaders around the world should prohibit their doors to avoid new defections. Well, not so fast. The subordinate model can work very well for a few, but it is not so easy to walk and match a salary. Readers must pay a high price for a voice they played once in a publication to which they subscribe. And writers must get used to the idea that the extent of their wisdom is limited to a small percentage of customers. Is the substance sustainable for writers who are aimed at a general audience?

Just last week, a group of criticism published that the platform could be on fragile field. It started when the newcomer Eric – postulating on his own successful substitution – abbreviated Take $ 45 million a year of income. He said he was looking for a new investment cycle that would appreciate the company at $ 700 million. (Sublack did not confirm these figures.)

But then Dylan Byers of Puck I looked at these figures And wondered if the results evaluation was in fact lower than that of the previous towers. Byers, like other criticisms, accused once you have exceeded the few real living rooms, the platform was full of mediocrities at low altitude: “The truth is that the vast majority of the content on substitution is boring, amateur or crazy Batshit,” he wrote. His conclusion was that Sub -Sack was a media company trying to be appreciated as a technology company, which is a familiar failure point for similar companies. (Wired himself once Failure in an IPO for this reason.)

Ana Marie Cox, who once loved the reputation of blogs as a Wonkette, is even darkerWriting in its newsletter as substitution “is as unstable as a launch of SpaceX”. She was not impressed by the more recent influx of name writers. “How many Terry Morans has room?” She wrote. “Is there even a public appetite for a dozen Terry Morans, each of Terry Moran independently in his own newsletter?”

Cox refers to the fatigue of the subscription, which I think each time that a registration page appears when opening a new substitution. As a rule, pros with advantages are asking for monthly costs of $ 5 to 10 or an annual rate of $ 50 to 150. Usually, there is a free level of content, but journalists who hope to do at least part of their livelihoods on substitution, except good things for paid customers. Compared to the subscription to full publications, it is a proposal for a terrible value. After leaving the Atlantic, famous writer Derek Thompson started a substitution It cost $ 80 a year – it’s a penalty of a digital subscription to the magazine he has just left! (Atlantic will probably spend $ 300,000 To replace it with someone else that is worth reading.) It is not necessary too much of these subscriptions to correspond to the cost of the New York Times, which probably has 100 journalists as good as the substitute writers, and you get prizes to start.