Independent journalist era takes off
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Substack is on track to more than double its politics and news subscribers in 2024, executives told Axios. The number of Substack journalists in news and politics making more than $1 million has doubled over the past year — and is now in "double digits," the company says.
Why it matters: Journalists with big brands or unique expertise are betting there's more upside in building their own products and audience relationships right now than freelancing or joining another potentially volatile newsroom.
- News industry cuts totaled 2,569 between January and July, up 10% from the same time last year, per Challenger, Gray & Christmas.
How we got here: A boom in digital publishing tech combined with a slew of media cutbacks prompted a big wave of journalists to go independent during the pandemic.
- But the trend slowed following a huge turnaround for media businesses in 2021, pegged to an unprecedented comeback in the ad market.
- Today, industry instability, combined with product improvements at independent publishing platforms like Substack, has made independent ventures viable for a wider array of journalists.
By the numbers: More than 22 politics, news, business and tech Substack newsletters have "tens of thousands" of paid subscribers.
- While several of those Substacks are publications, including The Free Press, Bulwark and Zeteo, most are individual journalists — formerly of prominent newsrooms. Politics and opinion drive outsized interest.
- "The 2024 election, in particular, is driving millions of new readers to Substack for original reporting, opinion and analysis," Substack co-founder Hamish McKenzie told Axios.
The Free Press, founded by Bari Weiss, is now the top moneymaker on Substack, a Substack spokesperson confirmed. Its success proves Substack can become an incubator for full newsrooms.
- The outlet has more than 750,000 subscribers (free and paid) on Substack, per the New York Times. Weiss said more than 100,000 pay $8 a month for full access to the company's journalism.
Mehdi Hasan left MSNBC and launched Zeteo News, a video-first media company, on Substack in February. Today, the firm has more than 20,000 paid subscribers and over 217,000 free email readers.
- "I always thought of [Substack] as just a newsletter company. And actually, I realized it's a really good shop for video," he told Axios.
- "A lot of other newsletter sites can't handle the video we're putting up," he said, while adding that he recently uploaded an hourlong clip to the platform ahead of making it available to subscribers on YouTube.
- Hasan plans to debut his first documentary, a 40-minute video, on Substack for subscribers soon.
The Bulwark, a center-right, anti-Trump news and opinion outlet has more than 39,000 paid subscribers and 283,000 free email readers total across six newsletters, a spokesperson said.
- Paid subscribers to Bulwark+ on Substack get access to special newsletters and podcasts. The outlet, which launched in 2018, has been entirely on Substack since 2020
The Ankler, a Hollywood news startup, joined Substack in 2022. Co-founder Janice Min said she assumed the company would leave Substack eventually, but there are no plans to do so now. "They just keep growing what they do with us. They keep growing the product," she said.
- Min noted that the firm is doing more to service enterprise businesses. "I think it probably refocuses the ambitions of even the individual writers who are coming because there are concrete examples of little empires that have grown out of Substack."
Zoom in: More journalists are heading to Substack following layoffs and volatility at their former outlets, instead of freelancing.
- Former journalists from The Messenger Tom LoBianco and Warren Rojas launched 24sight News on Substack in January when the outlet shuttered.
- Columnist Wajahat Ali launched a Substack in June following buyouts at The Daily Beast. Media columnist Justin Baragona joined Zeteo News to launch a new media newsletter, Ragebait, in July.
- Jeremy Scahill and Ryan Grim just left The Intercept and founded Drop Site News on Substack. Ken Klippenstein announced he was leaving The Intercept in April to do Substack full time.
- Chris Cillizza joined Substack following layoffs at CNN in 2022. He told Axios he has nearly 16,000 free subscribers and almost 3,000 paid.
The big picture: Substack isn't the only independent publishing platform seeing a flurry of momentum. CNN's media scribe Oliver Darcy, for example, launched a newsletter called "Status" on beehiiv this week.
- But the Substack, which raised an unprecedented $65 million at a $650 million valuation in 2021, has become synonymous with the idea of going independent.
- Min called Substack the "Kleenex" of newsletter publishing, meaning the name has become synonymous with the product.
What to watch: While Substack is the clear market leader, some of its policies have created an opening for other newsletter startups.
- Tech reporter Casey Newton moved his Platformer newsletter from Substack to Ghost over its content moderation policies in January.
- Substack takes a 10% cut of all subscription revenues from creators on its platform, a higher cut than some of its peers. Darcy cited that cut as one of the reasons he went to beehiiv, as well as having "the ability to both personalize the feel of the newsletter and the website."
