Substack, a subscription-based online newsletter platform, has been touted as a potential savior of journalism. In a precarious industry where full-time jobs are sparse, the platform allows writers to create and send newsletters directly to readers, who pay for the publication at a fee set by the writer, of which Substack takes 10%.
In a new paper, published in Communication, Culture and Critique, Annenberg School for Communication postdoctoral fellow Nelanthi Hewa and University of Toronto Associate Professor Nicole S. Cohen explore if the Substack-model is a viable alternative to traditional newsrooms for writers of color who often face racism and exclusion in the industry.
The researchers spoke to 11 journalists and writers of color in the United States and Canada about their experiences on Substack and similar newsletter platforms.
“Our interviews with writers revealed a nuanced and somewhat ambivalent picture of the journalism industry and people of color’s place within it,” says Hewa, lead author of the paper. “While Substack and other online newsletter platforms offer editorial freedom and space for writers of color to build community outside of a largely white and restrictive news industry, they don’t fix systemic inequities in journalism or offer financially sustainable careers for most.”
In their conversations with writers, Hewa and Cohen found that, again and again, writers started newsletters to have a space to write about anything they wanted, especially about race, free from the constraints of newsroom policies or editorial boards.
“Newsletters enable writers to claim space to write about issues of race and anti-racism, regardless of the ‘beat,’ be it local news or pop culture,” the authors write. “They don’t need to temper, downplay, or hide race as part of their identities.”
This freedom comes with a catch, however, writers told Hewa and Cohen. When writing a newsletter, individual writers can’t rely on the name recognition of a big media outlet to get readers or subscribers; they have to cultivate a public persona, which can be exhausting and take away time from writing.
Read more at Annenberg School for Communication.
