And why understanding this segment now means ‘getting ahead’ in the world of media storytelling 

By: Brittany Scott, Account Executive 

Founded in 2017, Substack has spent the better part of a decade quietly pulling some of the most brilliant journalists away from traditional newsrooms. 

What writers want (beyond a sturdy paycheck) is ownership. Free from the yoke of a massive media conglomerate, they now hold the editorial reins, and not to mention, the comfort of direct monetization as well. 

It is the creator-economy logic applied to people who were already good at creating. These journalists are opting to skip the bureaucracy and write “farm to table,” per se. Many are building personal brands that may even outlast their current newsroom affiliations.

These days, there will be a range of talented journalists across industries plugging away on Substack. Does that matter for an economic development organization (EDO) trying to break into the national dialogue? In short, “yes.” The journalists shaping the zoning conversation or the next ‘city on the rise’ narrative are often showcasing those takes on Substack, sometimes even before local journalists are on the scent.

Zeroing in on this sliver of the media landscape is increasingly important, as journalists once prolific across publications like The New York Times or Wall Street Journal or your local daily, are now breaking stories on this easy-to-use publishing platform. 

In fact, Substacks are now informing entire media campaigns. 

The New Newsroom 

Today, it is critical for EDOs to understand not only what’s driving the local, regional and national conversation, but also the public sentiment – and the ebbs and flows – that shape it. Increasingly, that nuance is being delivered across Substack reporting. 

Of course, today’s news landscape remains incredibly complex with the rise of podcasts, video streaming and other alternative channels. Only monitoring a “legacy” newsroom is understanding these nuances tangentially; as an EDO, you need to insert yourself into this orbit, and it’s your PR strategy that may help you get there. But, understanding strategy is understanding the “who’s who” of Substack reporting. 

Who’s Made the Switch? 

One example of a prominent voice on Substack is Noah Smith, who spent years as a finance professor at Stony Brook University before becoming an economics and opinion columnist at Bloomberg. Making it here is usually the goal for many journalists, and yet, he left Bloomberg to write ‘Noahpinion,’ an active newsletter that covers economic development, trade, industrial policy and the occasional shrewd take on why everything is more nuanced than headlines may suggest. It now has over 450,000 subscribers and sits at No. 2 in the “Business” category on Substack. 

He’s far from alone. Matt Yglesias, co-founder of Vox (and one of my personal favorites), publishes daily on ‘Slow Boring’, a pragmatic take on U.S. politics and a frequently cited voice in the national conversation on housing supply and zoning reform. He offers the kind of insight that is somehow neither slow nor boring, and has built an audience of over 200,000 in the process. 

And Brian Potter, a structural engineer and Senior Fellow at the Institute for Progress, writes ‘Construction Physics,’ a newsletter on the economics and technology of building construction and infrastructure. With over 74,000 subscribers and a spot in Substack’s ‘Technology’ rankings, Potter covers everything from housing legislation to manufacturing reshoring to the infrastructure bottlenecks holding back data centers and factories. For an EDO tracking site-selection or industrial announcements, his newsletter is often ahead of the trade press. 

Anything Else of Value Across Substack? 

What’s more, the comment sections and subscriber communities on these feeds are like turning over a rock in the woods and finding the most interesting critters and crawlies underneath: some immediately capture your attention, while others suggest you can put that rock back down. 

Beyond hard-hitting reporting and public-sentiment pulse checks, the platform itself has become a useful connector between PR pros and journalists (with levels of interactivity that could even rival an X, LinkedIn or Muck Rack).  Because of its popularity among journalists, including those who’ve sat in national newsrooms, it’s incumbent on today’s PR pros to dedicate time and attention to it.

That aforementioned strategy for anything EDO-related should now include: 

• Comprehensive media research into applicable Substack writers for almost any announcement 

• Targeted pitches to reach them in effective ways and provide useful information for their unique mission 

• And, ongoing community monitoring/network-building to break through at the most opportune times (e.g., a relocation announcement; infrastructure milestones; jobs projections; top rankings) 

As an EDO working to tell your area’s story, it’s clear these platforms can be great conduits, and your PR team should be well-versed in the Substack lingo. These are often self-sufficient publishers who earned an audience in traditional newsrooms and then carried them to this more, let’s say, avant-garde platform. 

And that’s exactly why you should care. The audience is built in; so, the newsroom is, perhaps, the official record while Substack is the conversation happening just outside the door. PR professionals who aren’t listening to it are working with half the picture. 

Closing Thoughts 

At Violet PR, we conduct regular research into Substack platforms and often work closely with these creators on shaping their coverage and infusing key markets, where possible. 

Overall, it’s an impressive medium that’s only likely to grow in size and stature, and reverence among the publishing community. 

If you’re an EDO looking to deepen your storytelling efforts, be sure to consider Substack as you and your team build the next strategy sure to break through… 

And for more information on our alternative media experience, give us a shout at hello@violetpr.com! 

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