In a world of algorithms, email: Journalists are building real media businesses around newsletters. Some are pulling in seven figures. The article profiles Ryan Broderick (Garbage Day), the Pantsuit Politics podcast duo, and a California expat who went from “what’s Substack?” to full-time creator in 12 months. (Scott Nover, Washington Post)
- Newsletters are emerging as durable media businesses, with platforms like Substack and Beehiiv reporting strong revenue growth as journalists flee algorithmic dependency and institutional instability.
- Garbage Day, Pantsuit Politics, and smaller operations like Petal + Hearth illustrate a range of models: advertising plus subscriptions, community-driven podcasting, and coaching layered on top of an audience.
- Email's unsexy advantage is that no platform decides who sees what, which makes it harder to disrupt than social or search.
