Is Substack the New Local Paper?

The Substack newsletter as the new source for local news is an intriguing idea. 

The local paper has always been sacrosanct in my view, and I truly worry about the fading prominence of the local news source. There was a time when residents of a community were well informed of local issues -- from high school sports to city council affairs to public service projects to engaging features of local interest -- and the local paper was the thread that held people together. Having grown up with publications like The Alton Telegraph, Advantage News, and The Riverfront Times, I valued the local view.

Living in Colorado now -- for twenty-plus years in southeast Denver -- I valued not only the Denver Post but also the numerous local weeklies, many a part of Colorado Community Media. Papers like The Villager, Aurora Sentinel, Centennial Citizen, and more were a regular part of my reading regimen. And, of course, I always check in with Westword, Denver's alt-weekly for music, arts, and culture news (note: I freelance for Westword). And, of course, as a regular visitor to the High Country in the summer, my days in Summit County were never complete without picking up a copy of the Summit Daily.

So, I am a bit saddened that few people check in with local news anymore -- and worse, that they only get local "news" from sites like ... ugh, NextDoor. 

That's why I am intrigued by the possibility that Substack can be the new source for the local daily, or weekly, in an online, digital world. And it's kind of cool that Substack has an informative post about how to make that happen:  Getting started with local news on Substack - On Substack

The world needs local news more than ever. Local journalism informs and brings together communities, but has never been more under threat. We strongly believe in the potential of the Substack model for building a sustainable, subscription-based business model for local news writers and readers alike. Emerging publications like The Mill (Manchester), The Rover (Montreal), The Addison Times (Addison), The Charlotte Ledger, and City Hall Watcher (Toronto) are already leading the way, and we’re fostering more local news publications through our Substack Local initiative.

In this guide, we provide tips and strategies for starting and succeeding with a local news publication on Substack:

Getting started

Before launching your local news publication, it’s important to define the overall editorial and business strategy for your publication. What makes it different from the existing local news ecosystem? What is the unique value your readers will only be able to get from your publication?

Decide what job you’ll do for your readers. Clearly define for yourself and your readers your publication’s value proposition: the reason that your writing is useful and can’t be found anywhere else. You might cover a beat other reporters aren’t, focus on data and quantitative methods like City Hall Watcher, or bring perspective from an underrepresented community or location. Substack writer Casey Newton explains and provides more examples here.

Go newsletter-first, and stay lean. A great newsletter requires focus. It’s lower-cost to operate than a traditional web or print publication, and more importantly, is a format that cultivates a direct relationship to readers. The goal is to write a fantastic regularly scheduled newsletter that readers can make part of their daily or weekly news habit.

Develop deep ties with the local community. Obvious but important! Successful local news writers should have broad and deep context, knowledge, and relationships in the community they’re writing for and about – ideally, they should already be known as trustworthy, credible thinkers by the community.