9.1: Independent journalism creators

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Andre Gouws and NWU students
North-West University

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An increasingly popular route for many journalists is to create their own content and distribute it on certain platforms where they either find subscribers to pay for the news or, as some sites call it, “patrons”, who are willing to pay to read their content.

Two of the most well-known platforms for independent creators of news are Patreon and Substack. Patreon is a site that has many independent journalism pages, where “patrons” pay a monthly or annual fee to access the news. Some popular news pages have subscribers that pay them thousands of US dollar per month. The success of these news pages flow from having a specific focus and filling a gap, thereby finding readers who are willing to pay for the news. In July 2021, a news page called Gaslit Nation, which focusses on rising autocracy around the world, had almost 5 400 patrons, paying at least US$1 per month. That is at least US$5 400 per month.

Substack works in a similar way. Here, you can find subscribers to your newsletter. There are many journalists from well-known mass media outlets who left their companies to distribute their own newsletters on Substack. One example is Matt Taibbi – his newsletter is called TK News. He used to write for Rolling Stone magazine and now has tens of thousands of subscribers on Substack. Each subscriber pays a monthly fee to receive the newsletter. Some sources estimate that Taibbi earns more than US$600 000 per year from his Substack newsletters (Guzey, 2020). Andrew Sullivan is another famous Substack writer with a newsletter called The Weekly Dish. The most successful newsletter on Substack (in terms of paid subscribers) is written by a history professor, Heather Cox Richardson, from Boston College in the US. Despite being a history professor, she writes a journalism newsletter. She earns about a million dollars per year from her newsletter.

You can make a good living by creating a quality news page on Patreon or newsletters on Substack. Until now, not many South African writers are present on these platforms. Remember that Substack and Patreon earn some commission for hosting newsletters or news pages, but their commission is relatively low, and writers earn their fair share on these platforms, much more than, for example, they would earn on YouTube (where one can also earn a good income). Some writers on these platforms are very successful because they are good journalists, identify clear gaps, and they help readers get a feeling that they are contributing to good journalism that adds value to their lives. Of course, it is important that whatever you present is of outstanding quality and that you follow the basic principles of journalism, otherwise, people will not pay you money to read your work. Your news and stories are your product; they should be exceptionally good to get readers, viewers, or listeners.

Another way to create your own news content is to create podcasts. There are many platforms where you can upload your podcasts (some of the more famous ones are Spotify, Podbean, Spreaker, but there are many others). Some of these sights charge a fee for hosting but also assist with ways to make money. Podcasts are a good way to build up a fanbase, but you can also consider hosting your podcasts on platforms such as Patreon (discussed above), where people may subscribe to your podcasts. You will need to market your podcasts on social media to attract subscribers.

Yet another way is to create a YouTube channel. YouTube has monetisation options, where you can earn money from advertisers. To monetise a YouTube channel, you need a minimum of 1 000 subscribers and 4 000 hours of view time before you can follow the application process for monetisation, so this is not a quick way to make money. However, if you are patient and you present good content, the subscribers will come. You can also use social media to promote your YouTube channel. YouTube has a Black Voices Creator Fund, specifically aimed at helping voices from the black community grow. The fund supports successful applicants with funding and training.

In South Africa, there are also independent news platforms who rely on donations or grants to produce news with a specific focus. GroundUp is one example, and another is New Frame. Both are completely independent, run by groups of journalists whose aim is not to make money. Both platforms aim to tell the stories of marginalised people in the country – people whose voices and stories have not been heard very often in the traditional mass media. New Frame managed to get over 100 000 readers in just one year. These websites also earn their income from grants and donations.

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