International Substack writers have run into a number of country-specific challenges using the platform. While Substack publishes a number of newsletters in languages other than English, it currently cannot support languages that read right to left, and its navigation and customer service portals are available only in English. But because the mentor doesn’t speak Brazilian Portugese, they’re unable to read Passarelli’s finished product. They discuss audience development goals and hash out the particulars of upcoming newsletter ideas. She didn’t disclose how much Substack was paying her but said the company awarded her the amount she specified in her application without negotiation.Īs part of the program, Substack offers Passarelli access to a mentor, a journalist based in the U.S. “When I got the winner announcement email, the first thing they asked was, Are you able to do this full time for a whole year? Because we are going to need your full dedication for this project,” Passarelli told Rest of World. Nearly half of recipients reside outside of the United States and were hand-selected by a jury that included some of Substack’s most popular contributors, including Zeynep Tufekci and Anne Helen Petersen. Passarelli is one of 12 winners of Substack Local, a year-long, $1 million program to support the launch of new local news publications on the platform. One reporter benefiting from some of these initiatives is Brazilian journalist Gaía Passarelli, who left her job as editor-in-chief of Buzzfeed Brazil this spring and recently launched a newsletter called Paulicéia, which documents life and culture in São Paulo in the wake of the pandemic. and employed as contractors directly by Substack. That support staff is typically based in the U.S. Rest of World spoke to current and former Substack contributors in Nigeria, Brazil, India, Singapore, and China, many of whom said it had awarded them grants as well as hired freelance editors, copy editors, designers, and mentors to shepherd their newsletter growth. with a number of different editorial resources. Through a series of incentive programs, Substack is already providing some writers outside the U.S. In an emailed statement, a spokesperson for Substack said the company is “adamantly committed to free press and while we can’t control the actions of foreign governments, we staunchly defend press freedom on our own platform and with our own policies.” “But what happens if you say you’re being called in for an investigation? What happens if you are detained? What happens if you’re being harassed in your country?” (Han has previously contributed to Rest of World.) “When Substack is supporting local writers elsewhere, there’s some financial support, some income for you to write,” said Kirsten Han, a Singaporean freelance journalist who hosted her newsletter We, The Citizens on Substack until earlier this year. But as the service enters countries where journalism can be dangerous, it may be forced to decide how much responsibility it’s willing to take for reporters and their work. Anyone can start a newsletter on Substack, and the company says writers retain total editorial independence, although the company collects a 10% flat fee from each paid subscription. Like many content platforms, Substack occupies a murky space between software provider and full-blown publisher, though it’s often denied sharing much in common with the latter. ![]() After raising an additional $65 million from investors, in recent months it has begun recruiting journalists in places like Romania, Brazil, and India, raising questions about how the company plans to navigate threats to press freedom as it grows internationally. Now, the San Francisco–based company is setting its sights abroad. media industry, successfully poaching reporters from outlets like The New York Times and Buzzfeed News to start their own publications on its platform. Over the last year, Substack has ridden a wave of subscription newsletter frenzy in the U.S.
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