In the third and final instalment of Telum's Emerging Media series, we discuss subscription-based platforms. 

In case you missed it, check out Part One and Part Two of Telum Talks Emerging Media.

We spoke with Miko Santos, Editor-in-Chief of Redwires AU, and Bri Lee, Founder / Editor of News & Reviews, to find out the appeal of this style over the traditional media route. 

Redwires AU covers general news for a target audience of young adults in Australia, and News & Reviews discusses news surrounding areas of interest for Bri, including law, feminism, inequality, the media, education, transparency, big tech, and more. Both are crowd-sourced digital newsletters published via subscription-based service Substack. 

"People often think that newsletters you have to pay for are less reliable or credible than traditional news sources. However, this is not necessarily true, as many subscription-based newsletters are written by experienced journalists or subject matter experts. It is important to evaluate the credibility of any news source, regardless of its format or delivery method," says Miko.

A recent report by Reuters Digital News Project mentioned a break-out group of primarily upmarket news publishers across the world that have reported record digital subscription numbers and revenue growth despite an overall decline in news consumption.

For Bri, who hired an editorial team late last year, Substack is "the best of the 'professional' and 'non-professional' media landscape combined. I have a direct access to my readership that is almost reminiscent of the so-called 'blogging' or early internet days, and readers appreciate the honesty and immediacy that they used to get from platforms like Instagram which long ago became overly-commercialised and overly-curated. I have significantly more control over how I reach my readers because there is no algorithm to contend with".

"Subscription-based newsletters may offer a more in-depth and specialised focus on a particular topic, which can be valuable for readers seeking comprehensive coverage," adds Miko.