Is This the Worst Month Ever for Legacy Media?
A lot changed in the last four weeks
These events all happened in the last few days.
They are NOT unconnected:
SEPTEMBER 24: The Financial Times reports that a Substack launched two years ago by Bari Weiss is now worth $100 million, and has just raised $15 million from investors.
OCTOBER 1: One week later, journalist Taylor Lorenz announces that she is leaving the Washington Post to launch an online periodical on Substack. She plans to hire other writers and offer in-depth coverage of tech and internet culture.
OCTOBER 14: Gallup announces the results of a new poll showing that trust in mass media has reached an all-time low.
OCTOBER 15: The Wall Street Journal reports that bestselling novelist James Patterson is launching on Substack. He has sold 480 million books since publishing his first novel in 1976, but now will sell subscriptions to readers at a price of six dollars per month.
OCTOBER 15: That same day the New York Times reports that the “queen of legacy media” Tina Brown—formerly editor of The New Yorker and Vanity Fair—is now launching on Substack. She is also charging six dollars per month.
By the way, that reminds me…
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That last announcement shook me up the most. Tina Brown personifies establishment New York publishing.
And now even she is bypassing the system?
Brown got no upfront cash or guarantees. According to the Times, “Substack did not offer her any payment for signing up.”
A year ago, Substack was a platform for writers. That’s still true—but something else is now happening.
The blog has grown up. People are now building multichannel media empires on Substack.
That’s sorta weird, but it also makes a lot of sense. The Substack platform now embraces writing, video, audio, chat, messaging, social media, and probably other options I don’t even know about.
I’ve written for major publishing houses and prestigious periodicals, but I’ve never had these kinds of tools available to me before. Against all odds, I have more options as an indie operator than I ever did working inside the buzzing hive of legacy media.
I’m clearly not the only person to figure this out. The exodus from the hive is now in full swing.
Will the last person left in legacy media please remember to turn off the lights?
And then, two days later—just yesterday—I got an even bigger surprise.
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