French newspaper Libération discussed the growing success and spread of the “Substack” application for newsletters, questioning how much it threatens traditional media.

The newspaper highlighted that the app’s main feature is the lack of restrictions on format, political orientation, or editor-in-chief. Although it has only recently started gaining traction in France, it has attracted journalists and intellectuals in the United States who maintain a direct and sometimes lucrative relationship with tens of thousands of readers.

Substack, an American paid newsletter platform, allows publishing news content (articles, analyses, editorials) accessible via a monthly subscription starting at 5 euros, with a 10% commission for the app. This way, both the platform and publishing journalists earn income from their subscribing audience.

To illustrate, creative journalists find in the app an opportunity to showcase their distinctive newsletters and earn from subscribers who prefer their content, whereas previously, content distribution was linked to news websites seeking to attract ads and generate revenue.

Regarding the financial impact, Libération described that some American journalists earn salaries comparable to football players from Substack. In July, the company raised $100 million, with a valuation exceeding one billion dollars.

Cultural stars watch their accounts grow rapidly. For example, the app’s owner, historian Heather Cox Richardson, whose “American Letters” (articles on current events from a historical perspective) attracted 2.6 million followers, reportedly surpassed 100,000 paid subscribers, equating to at least 500,000 euros monthly.

The newspaper conveyed impressions from specialists, quoting one who said, “It is the best source of information I have ever known! Especially regarding my current topics: technology, geopolitics, artificial intelligence, and the future of social protection.”

It noted that hundreds of French journalists are already on the site as observers, while publishers among them remain few. Meanwhile, dozens of prominent economists warned of the “risk of collapse” of quality journalism facing “unfair” competition from AI and platforms.

Farah Store, a British journalist responsible for partnerships with European publishers at Substack, explains that the app is halfway between a social network and a blogging platform, combining the best of both: the privacy of newsletters and the reach of a network, in her view.

Freedom of Expression and Promise of Financial Independence

French journalist Laurène Bastide, followed by 20,000 on Substack, with over a thousand paying subscribers, says, “I find in it the joy of early blogging; it is a window to showcase my activities, full freedom, a friendly place, and a kind of safe haven.”

Bastide starts each Friday message with “Hello dear ones.” Far from the conflicts on platform X, Substack is seen as an app favoring depth over noise. Farah Store proudly says users avoid rushed stances and angry algorithms, noting that after the killing of right-wing influencer Charlie Kirk, Substack published few analyses while X was flooded with videos.

Libération states all users praise the app: no restrictions on format, no political line, no editor-in-chief, confirming it attracted journalists and intellectuals to freedom of expression and the promise of financial independence.

The Dilemma of Personalizing Media

The paper asked whether the app, which is a starting point and even an incubator for new media, can defeat traditional journalism.

French journalist and producer François Saltiel answers, “We haven’t reached that stage yet,” adding, “But we are witnessing media personalization, which started with YouTube, fragmenting the space into a collection of media outlets.”

In the US, the paper notes that famous journalists have left newsrooms and opened their Substack accounts, such as Joy Reid from MSNBC, Jim Acosta from CNN, Charlie Warzel from The New York Times, and recently, British famous and conservative broadcaster Piers Morgan.

Libération points out some users prefer subscribing to two or three trusted personalities rather than following major newspapers. Saltiel describes the relationship as emotional, not just intellectual, as they entrust these personalities with choosing what information to keep, how to interpret it, and ultimately their worldview, highlighting the dilemma of media personalization.

The newspaper concludes that new online editors are opinion influencers who do not earn salaries from newspapers but from their “followers.”