To Compete with Corporate Media, Elon Musk Says He's Willing to Acquire the Publishing Platform Substack

This response followed the lackluster reception that the mainstream and corporate media gave to the "Twitter Files" that he had made public via independent journalists.

on Dec 29, 2022

To Compete with Corporate Media, Elon Musk

Elon Musk said he is open to the possibility of acquiring Substack, which enables independent writers and podcasters to publish directly to their audience and be compensated through subscriptions, on Wednesday after announcing his purchase of Twitter.

Musk made this statement in response to a user who questioned him whether it would be wise for Twitter to purchase Substack to further integrate the two platforms. Musk stated that he was receptive to the notion.

The user wrote in a post that "Twitter with Substack generates instantaneously tremendous competition for outmoded traditional corporate media."

This response followed the lackluster reception that the mainstream and corporate media gave to the "Twitter Files" that he had made public via independent journalists.

"Why is corporate journalism rushing to defend the state instead of the people?" Musk asked, reacting to Leighton Woodhouse, a freelance reporter and documentary filmmaker, who said "establishment journalists' response to the Twitter Files is that of a profession committed to protecting the state instead of exposing it" on Substack.

A US-based web platform called Substack offers publication, payment, analytics, and design infrastructure to serve newsletter subscriptions. Additionally, authors may utilize Substack to deliver subscribers directly their digital newsletters. The business was created in 2017 by Chris Best, a co-founder of Kik Messenger, Jairaj Sethi, a developer, and Hamish McKenzie, a former tech journalist.