What is Substack? Why Is It? How does it work? — Week 2 Reflection

In “Substack isn’t a new model for journalism,” was definitely an interesting read for me. I thought a lot about the historical context of journalism that they brought up and compared to Substack. I, of course, think Substack is great for numerous reasons. As I previously stated, I think that journalists needed a place to write that was independent from the tech giants and also have a place to continue their passion as so many larger companies were laying off their employees. However, this article discussed the penny papers of the 1830s and how those papers affected the people. I think it interesting to look the larger picture that they bring up here.

First, something is to be said about the paid subscription that is being promoted and praised throughout Substack and their writers. However, what does that say for the people that want good journalism and would like to subscribe but cannot do to financial difficulties? For those who simply cannot afford the $5 a month, they would try to find free news elsewhere even if the quality is subpar. This lack of quality and tailored news to these impoverished people and communities can even exacerbate other social issues.Like the article by Socolow stated, penny papers made it easier for the masses to get the news and to keep informed since they could now afford the papers. It was first only obtained by the elite because the papers were expensive. Of course, I am not saying that Substack is doing this intentionally or that they would be the reason that low income communities cannot get quality news. However I think it is a serious downfall to the paid subscription model.

I do believe they make up this shortcoming with the free pieces that can be offered, but as we read in the other articles, these free pieces are up to the discretion of the authors and sometimes could be hidden, to an extent, to prompt people to pay for the full service. I again am not offering a solution to this but I do think that Substack could try to address this issue. And I know in the article, they address the very real and valid point: it takes money to produce quality journalism.