The demise of traditional journalism

Many journalists from the legacy media are jumping across and creating their own independent organizations, using multiple online platforms to get their material out to consumers. They utilize YouTube, Rumble, X (Twitter), Spotify, and Substack. New organizations like Public (Michael Shallenberger), and The Free Press (Douglas Murray), have their own research and production staff, collecting revenue through paywalls.

Many new sites open each month, but few find themselves sustainable. There is a lot of experimentation going on with developing specialised newsletters, videos, and podcasts, where consumer monetary support deems them viable.

There are dangers that many independent platforms are propagating opinionated current affairs. However, this style brings in the numbers and revenue. There is also a danger that some of the platforms these independent journalists use, might be purchased by corporations that censor content.

There is a solution

The legacy media became concentrated, which fostered fragmentation through those who didn't want to be part of the system, or left the system altogether. However, these independent platforms, some small and others not so small are competing for the same potential consumers. A single consumer only has a limited amount of money they are prepared to spend on news and opinion. They must choose very selectively, as its not practical to subscribe to multiple independent platforms.

The solution could be the amalgamation of independent platforms into consortiums, where consumers pay one subscription for access of a group of independent sites. This would not be too different than subscribing to Netflix, Disney, or Prime for movie content. Such a s consortium approach will strengthen the power of independent content producers, and make independent journalism accessible to more consumers than at present.

These consortiums or networks of independent journalists, packaged around anchor sites is the next logical step in the growth and sustainability of independent journalism.