It's no secret that traditional media is on the decline. In this new social media age, legacy media giants are struggling to keep up with the pace of news, in the smartphone age anyone anywhere can break a story, as well as declining public trust. Their reputations have become increasingly tarnished in the eyes of the American public as more issues of bias reporting and coverage, especially on political issues, come to light. These two factors are among the primary reasons why publications such as Substack are increasing their market share and societal presence, particularly in the hyper polarized arena of political reporting.
What makes Substack different from traditional media outlets is the fact that it allows individual reporters and or organizations to curate newsletters that people can subscribe to on a person by person or company by company basis. I think the primary reason for this is because individuals are more likely to trust certain reporters because they can vet those reporters’ credentials and motivations much easier than they could with large media conglomerates who are beholden to advertisers. The numbers also back up this perceived increase in popularity. According to Yahoo Finance, Substack currently has over 2 million paid monthly subscribers that use their service; these are the most recent numbers, circa 2023, and they show a doubling of subscribers from November of 2021.
This increased popularity has allowed reporters to become the center of political stories as opposed to legacy media outlets, this is a new development and has allowed Substack reporters report on bombshell political stories. The title of most infamous reporter and Substack story belongs to none other than Matt Taibbi, who is one of the biggest reporters on the platform. Taibbi famously broke the Twitter Files after Elon Musk purchased Twitter, now X, in October of 2022 after allegations of censorship and mismanagement came to light over the course of Musk acquiring the company. This led to Taibbi reporting on the matter as he reviewed the files and culminated with him going before Congress on Capitol Hill to inform them and be questioned on certain issues regarding the files. Taibbi’s personal story also contributes to why individuals might trust him more than they would a legacy media outlet. In the past, Taibbi worked for legacy media and has admitted that he was wrong on multiple occasions and misinformed on multiple stories when he was reporting for legacy outlets, however, after more information came to light traditional outlets chose to not issue corrections or take down stories on multiple occasions. According to Taibbi this is among the main reasons he decided to leave legacy media and do his own reporting.
Currently Substack is a private company which gives them control over their brand, their image, and what content they allow on their site. What makes Substack special is their model, it allows choice which is becoming a requirement for news in todays political climate. People, especially Americans don't like to be told what to think and they certainly don't like to be lied to especially on political issues. Under this private model and their current leadership, Substack has shown growth on a year-by-year basis with no signs of slowing down, I believe Substack will continue to be a giant in the alternative media scene because of these factors.
References
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/lets-talk-substack-100000445.html
