Anna Wiener of the New Yorker explores Substack, an online service that allows writers to send out email newsletters on a wide range of topics, including opinion, research, journalistic reporting, and much more. Writers of the newsletters profit on the theory of the “passion economy” – the idea that an audience will buy the products of the producer of what they are watching or reading. Substack may be good for writers, but journalistic individualism becoming more prevalent may pose a threat to newsrooms and other reliable forms of news, according to Wiener.
The widely-used neighborhood social network app Nextdoor is beginning to fill the role of a transmitter of local news and a replacement for local news organizations, according to Will Oremus in his article in OneZero. Nextdoor can be a useful tool for discussing local politics (but not national) or staying up to date on neighborhood happenings, issues and elections, says Oremus. However, with few fact-checking resources available on the platform, it becomes difficult to distinguish between information and disinformation.
It’s been an eventful newsweek for journalism. Marty Baron, the widely respected editor of the Washington Post, announced plans to retire. The Post has experienced significant growth over his tenure. The Los Angeles Times is also on the hunt for an editor after executive editor Norman Pearlstine stepped down in December. Lastly, ex-White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany may be hired by Fox.
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