Critics Lambast Substack Over 'Pro' Program for Big-Name Writers

Speaker 1: 00:00 The newsletter platform sub stack has established itself as a home for name brand journalists. Who've abandoned mainstream media outlets that didn't just happen. Sub stack is paying those writers and the platforms choices are coming under fire online. Rachel Myro KQBD senior editor for it. Silicon Valley desk has more Matt Taibbi, Glenn Greenwald, Matthew Yglesias. If you know their work and you're a fan, you might be subscribing to their newsletters on sub stack. Now that they're no longer operating out of traditional newsrooms, like the guardian Fox and the Atlantic sub stack is venture capital financed, $65 million. Most recently from Andreessen Horowitz, a name brand Silicon Valley VC flush with cash sub stack has approached some big name writers with big money, a quarter of a million dollars. In some cases to seed sub stack with people who will draw a crowd sub stack pro deals, the company calls them on it, Speaker 2: 01:00 Creating a stable of writers. Many of whom were already controversial, right? Because controversy is what drives attention and a social media context. Speaker 1: 01:11 She Roberts co-directs UCLA center for critical inquiry. Now no media outlets scooping up headline grabbing talent is nothing new publishers have done it for centuries, Hollywood movie studios, and now social media platforms too. But Robert says sub stack. Hasn't been transparent about what it is. Speaker 2: 01:32 It's vetting and choosing certain people to give them a platform that it supports financially. And that is an editorial decision, which makes them something other than a neutral platform with no politics. Speaker 1: 01:47 Sub stacked declined to comment for this story. But company leaders are posting at length online to counter attacks from critics who are starting to pay close attention to the subset of sub stack writers who get the juicy, Speaker 2: 02:01 The whiteness, the maleness, the libertarian right wing weakness of the group. And that was pretty self evident. Speaker 1: 02:09 Non-pro sub stack writers are so offended. They're leaving the platform and encouraging their readers to do the same. For instance, one writer who identifies as trans last month called out the platform for giving massive advances to writers whose work includes quote, extreme trans eliminationist rhetoric company leaders replied in another blog post here's a bit read by a colleague of mine. Since again, sub stack wouldn't come Speaker 3: 02:36 More than 30 writers have now signed pro deals and they cover a range of issues. None that can be reasonably construed as anti-trans and a range of backgrounds more than half are women. And more than a third are people of color. Speaker 1: 02:49 Not that the company is sharing its sub stack pro roles publicly also unclear how many disaffected sub stack writers in their readers are leaving the platform. Sub stacks. Biggest problem though may be the fact it's proved it's possible to make VC money off of newsletters. Now Facebook and Twitter are getting into the game and they have a lot more eyeballs and money to offer Speaker 4: 03:14 That was KQBD Silicon Valley desk, senior editor of Rachel Myra reporting.