Politics And Substack - Part 1: From Aaron Parnas To Gavin Newsom
Politics is accelerating Substack's growth. In the US mostly... For Part 2, we will focus on Substack's international markets, in particular Europe.
💬 Quick CONVERSATION STARTERS:
Let’s talk about political discourse on Substack
The July 4th celebrations last week gave us the opportunity to pause for a second, relax, and explore a bit more how conversations around political discourse and politics move through Substack.
A couple of weeks ago,
of hosted a great interview with Substack co-founder about the transformative role of the platform in the media landscape, but also about the challenges of navigating political discourse.
Here’s what Hamish told Katie:
Political discourse is one of the most important and most prominent forms of discourse, especially in America, especially in this moment. And we're like, we've got a political problem, right? A cultural problem politically. We can't really understand each other. We don't know how to talk to each other.
And so at this time and leading up to 2024, Facebook and Instagram had sort of distanced themselves from the responsibility of even hosting political discourse. They were downranking news. And that is a disaster when they're the dominant platforms for people's attention, trying to make sense of the world.
And then on X, it was almost the opposite. X was overemphasizing political discourse, but putting it into a game where the kind of most sensational and the loudest voices would get the most attention and therefore get to dominate that discourse. discourse and so we think you know we saw it's obviously that's a good business opportunity for us when these other places are like failing there is like an open lane but also we felt it's kind of like a moral responsibility like we have a system that we believe in that is better and we wanted to help foster a better kind of discourse.
Hamish also linked political discourse to the new environment that Substack wants to create — and it is creating — for creators.
In this era, which I call the garden, it's much more about the power being distributed among many voices and many more perspectives can be let in.
New voices can be let in. In this current mode, there are no gatekeepers really But there will be new gatekeepers. There will just be different sorts and many, many more. And that will give rise to a much more diverse and interesting and rich and valuable system.
His reference to “the garden” comes from a recent Ted Talk Hamish did.
Just days after his interview with Katie, Hamish linked politics to “how we speak to each other.”
He said:
The old media way of speaking—broadcasts, soundbites, hiding more than revealing—has stopped working and in fact has negative effects. The new way of speaking—direct, conversational, no-bullshit, with flaws—wins.
Hello Aaron Parnas…
“Breaking news right now.” Whether you’re familiar or not with
and his news reporting style on TikTok and other platforms, he hooks you in in less than 1.7 seconds.Why do I say 1.7 seconds?
Well, years ago, I heard a CMO talking about the attention span of humans v fish at a conference in Orlando, Florida. I don’t remember his name or what company he worked for. What stuck with me was what he said — and I’m not sure it’s backed by actual research, so use this for what it is: just an advice from a CMO speaking at a conference years ago in Orlando :)
What he said was that the attention span of a fish — when you tap with your finger the glass of a fish tank — is 1.8 seconds, before the fish looses the attention and swims away. But wait… the attention span of a human is 1.7 seconds.
Whether it’s true or not, doom-scrolling is a thing, and it has affected how we consume the news on social media, including complex political news.
Aaron has made the 1.7 second hook his signature style. And his “breaking news right now” has made him into a Walter Cronkite of the modern era.
Let us explain... This is what Tricia Romano of Rolling Stone wrote about Aaron recently in an article titled, “He’s Not the Left’s Joe Rogan — But He May Be Even Better:”
Parnas, 26, boasts 3.9 million TikTok followers and another 2 million across his other platforms. Though the left has long been calling for its own Joe Rogan as a way to connect with younger voters, he’s become a sort of 20-something Walter Cronkite — a trustworthy presence delivering the facts with the urgency needed in a nonstop news cycle. It may be the only way for the news to reach the elusive Gen Z and Gen Alpha audience.
Compared to the long-winded political diatribes of some other TikTok creators who dive deep giving political opinions and analysis, Parnas’s brevity is unique for the space. But unlike Cronkite, he’s not above showing a bit more of his personal life and personality to his viewers (they know that he is a sour candy addict, for instance).
And the mere act of curating the news is informed by personal opinion and editorial judgement — for what it’s worth, the Center for American Progress Action Fund rates Parnas as a progressive source. For the last 30 days, he’s currently ranked 5th in its dashboard tracking news sources across all platforms, including Twitter — right behind Elon Musk.
Aaron’s Substack
has also taken off very quickly since launching last year and has made him the TikTok Liberation Prize winner.Here’s the announcement made by Substack CEO and co-founder
in early January:Shortly after, Chris interviewed him here on Substack, and here’s what they said about Substack’s appeal and commitment:
Aaaron: What I like about [Substack] is that it’s not a partisan platform. You have Republicans, you have Democrats, you have Independents, you have everyone on this platform, all pushing out content, and it’s working. And that’s what social media should be, in my opinion.
Chris: It’s really good to hear you say that, because it’s something we’ve worked pretty hard to do. We have a strong commitment to freedom of the press. This is all we do. We don’t have entanglements, political commitments, agendas, beyond making this tool work for people. So I’m glad that that comes through, because it’s something that we put quite a bit of effort into.
When we started our
here on Substack last fall, we asked Aaron to contribute his thoughts on his role and the role of content creators and influencers in politics and diplomacy.
Here a few takeaways from our chat with Aaron:
creators and influencers play a huge role in politics and diplomacy
campaigns are relying on creators and influencers to help get their messaging out
legacy media is dying, especially when it comes to young people
“I’m Gavin Newsom.”
This is exactly what the California Governor wrote on Substack back in February:
I’m Gavin Newsom. And, it’s time to have a conversation. It’s time to have honest discussions with people that agree AND disagree with us.
He was simply using Substack to launch his podcast “This is Gavin Newsom.”
Fast forward to June,
launched a proper Substack, .When he launched, he was interviewed by Aaron Parnas live here on Substack and explained why he chose this platform:
I’m on because you’re on and others are on, and people are having two-way conversations.
I think this notion of just one-way conversations and broadcasts doesn’t work anymore. It’s a great opportunity to meet people where they are and to have more substantive and long-form conversations.
Newsom is riding this new wave of interest in political long-form content.
And, as
scooped back in June, “Substack is quietly fundraising on the back of exploding usage of its mobile app and a reignited enthusiasm for new political newsletters, thanks to President Donald Trump.”It’s interesting to see how political and news content — headed by
, formerly with CNN and The Washington Post, since 2023 — is driving growth.“Substack is telling investors that it’s currently generating about $45 million in annual recurring revenue,” Eric wrote. “The total subscription revenue flowing to Substack creators is roughly $450 million, sources tell me.”
The Substack model is what is very interesting, and what — we think — fits politics quite well.
When, back in May
asked Substack head Chris Best about video on the platform, Chris responded:I wouldn’t actually say we’re video-centric. Other platforms got built around a particular format, right? Instagram was pictures, Youtube is video, TikTok is short video. Substack is not really built around a format, is built around a model, the subscription model, the direct relationship.
That “direct relationship” proved to work really well for politics.
Will the next election happen on Substack?
Well, maybe we’re not there yet… But hear us out.
Remember when Medium was trying hard to get politicians and government institutions on the platform? Although through many transitions and iterations.
[Full disclosure, before Substack we were on Medium with quite a large following of over 100,000 subscribers/followers. We abandoned it as the platformed changed their model, without, however changing much of their DNS. Long story short, we’re not on Medium anymore.]
Why are we mentioning Medium? In 2014, then-President Barack Obama and the White House joined Medium, to reach out to… Millennials.
Gen Z was not a thing back then and the Obama administration, the first to use social media and digital to win an election, was trying to tap into young voters.
“So here’s something we know for certain: Your rising generation of Americans isn’t just adapting to a 21st-century economy,” Obama wrote on Medium in October 2014. “You’re actively changing it.”
Fast forward 2 years,
wrote in TIME magazine in July 2016: “while social media platforms have gotten most of the attention, there’s one site that’s become an overwhelmingly popular way for politicos to get their message out: Medium.”Maya pointed out: “The blogging platform, which launched in 2012, is focused on one thing: providing a beautiful, custom way to present text to an audience. That simple focus has convinced political stars from Hillary Clinton to Sen. Chuck Schumer to start making major use of it.”
It was a time of growth for Medium, including their Washington-based policy team joining both the Republican and Democratic National Conventions. They might even have hosted a White House Correspondents’ Dinner — known as WHCD — pre-party or after-party back in 2016.
Sounds familiar?
In April, Substack threw a phenomenal WHCD party (not pre- and not post), just “alternative,” as Jessica Reed Kraus wrote in
.Jessica explained: “Denied tables at the official dinner, they threw a party of their own on the same night in a hallway at the Willard Hotel. Black tie for the black sheep.”
Let me be clear, I don’t want to make a comparison! Medium and Substack are not the same, not even remotely. But Medium’s past experience in politics shows how much interests there is around long-form content in the political arena.
My point is different. As we fast forward to today, more politicians are now joining — or show a great deal of interest — around Substack.
We are trying to compile a full list of politicians, politicos, and government officials here on Substack, help us out, please!
Not only Gavin Newsom, but also
, both on Substack and both possible presidential candidates in 2028.In fact,
recently pointed out in how Buttigieg’s Substack made him “one of the most prominent Democrats now on the platform.”She added: “But he is hardly the Magellan of the Substack movement. Since Donald Trump’s second inauguration, Democratic officials and strategists have started exploring the Substack seas in earnest.”
Lauren mentioned a few examples: Connecticut Sen.
, Texas , Arizona Sen. , .She asked a simple question: “What does the migration reveal about the ever-evolving world of political communication?” Here’s her analysis:
These Democrats have come to Substack both in search of new audience connections and as refugees from sites that have grown toxic or untraversable: X’s redpilled algorithm and Meta’s shadowbanned political content. As cable news becomes less relevant and as liberals have scattered across a variety of social media platforms, Substack has become one of the few places to offer stability: with a growing audience, a reliable information delivery system, and a variety of mechanisms (emails, Twitter-like “notes,” videos, and various chat tools) to convey one’s message and engage directly with followers.
The company sees an opportunity. Its employees have been meeting with congressional staffers and chatting up aides to potential 2028 presidential candidates, encouraging them to get on the platform. Substack also recently hired
, who worked in political guest booking at CBS News and CNN—the type of person who has phone numbers and contacts for just about everyone in D.C. whom the company is hoping to get on its platform. The goal is ambitious: they want Substack to become the essential online arena for political discourse in the upcoming election cycles.“This movement of politicians to Substack is huge, and it’s going to get even bigger,” said Catherine Valentine, Substack’s head of politics. “I think that the 2026 and 2028 elections are going to play out on Substack.”
Lauren’s conclusion?
From Substack’s viewpoint, the ideal outcome would be to become a central hub for the 2028 presidential election.
Read her article to find out more!
What about politics internationally?
Well, what about it?
I thought there was not much to say… I couldn’t find much data on how the platforms performs outside of the US. But I was wrong!
As I started to write this chapter, I realized it was going to be too long not to be a self-standing Substack newsletter post by its own… Next week!
So, if you’re curious, follow us for the second part next week.
Love this! Thanks for linking to the podcast.