First, I have never understood what the difference is between Substack and, say, Patreon, other than Substack being newer, theoretically cooler for the new James Dean type rebels without a cause journos, more focused on journos than Patreon, and probably using a different payment system.
I even tweeted that a few months ago.
Now, Wired says that maybe we're at a subscription blog/newsletter saturation point. Irony alert: The piece is members-only! The story specifically talks about "subscription fatigue." Or maybe that's "hypocrisy alert."
Past any irony or hypocrisy, Steven Levy says he suspects the likes of Matt Taibbi will eventually rejoin the likes of traditional online journalism. (That still sounds like a bit of an oxymoron, that phrase.)
Interestingly, he does NOT mention Sully, Greenwald or Yglesias. Nor would they lump under the people he thinks will stay on Substack: "ambitious newcomers, disgruntled mid-termers and post-buyout veterans."
The trio above, AND Taibbi, are a mix of categories two and three — disgruntled veterans. And, privileged disgruntled veterans with a large audience.
1 comment:
I wondered the same thing, and found your blog. I have Unsubscribed from many worthy newsletters (GrayZone, PayDay Report, etc), told all the ActBlue money-beggars how ther fear-mongering has lost its effectiveness when Democrats lockstep block public healthcare and livable wages, foreclosed on 8 Million American families last time, even now, again gave trillions to corporations and NOTHING for citizens hungry, homeless and dying on mass. I even often delete the newsletters I still get, like Lee Camp, Jimmy Dore, Matt Taibbi, Rigged Game, because I cannot take any more. Yesterday I watched Glenn Grenwald and a guy who appears to have just stepped off The Crown set and Glenn says the same: journalsts will have to coalesce again in some larger org. He says much else of value, and charmingly: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MSVNm7XbnYA&ab_channel=UnHerd
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