How Substack Writers can Address the Crisis of Trust in Media
How Substack Writers can Address the
Crisis of Trust in Media
Featuring article and video by Matt Taibbi and Matt Orfalea
Video Transcript
In an increasingly polarized and distrustful world, independent writers face numerous challenges when their work circulates beyond their immediate audience of core readers:
The Problem
First, Skeptical readers often suspect that the quotes they read have been taken out of context, while also being ..
too busy and dismissive to investigate their (often partisan) suspicions.
Additionally, Independent writers face the challenge of differentiating themselves from the irresponsible.
Finally, independent writers face challenges from gatekeepers and partisans that censor, shadow-ban, and nitpick good reporting, even threatening writers like Matt Taibbi with perjury.
The Threat to Substack
The threat to Substack writers is exemplified by "The Majority Report's" Emma Vigeland, who argued that independent writers need editors
because, as MSNBC's Mehdi Hassan is purported to demonstrate, they are unreliable without institutional support.
According to Vigeland, writers like Taibbi and Greenwald pretend that they’re being censored when in reality they just don’t want editors but they need them.
Solution
Vigeland's comments are a threat to the independent Substack model; and Substack writers like Taibbi could respond to such criticism by going on the defensive. Alternatively, Substack could go on offensive, by innovating, giving writers tools to hold themselves to a higher standard of transparency, making it easy for readers to examine a quote's context in a way that is not possible in print or television, and which mainstream media will find difficult to match.
I created the CiteIt App to help inform readers and build trust. The App looks up a quote’s context when the quotation has been linked to a web source or a YouTube video that contains a transcript.
Demo example
To demonstrate, I made a demo of the piece that Matt Taibbi and Matt Orfalea did about the Nord Steam pipeline bombing — a piece which challenges the Overton Window (of what is considered politically acceptable to say).
A skeptical reader who doesn't want to accept Taibbi's arguments about Nord Stream might rationalize their skepticism by saying the clips in Orfalea's video may have been taken out of context, but with CiteIt, the reader can easily learn more about the quote's context, without taking up screen real estate or requiring the writer to interrupt the article's flow.
Bonus: Archiving
To overcome link rot, CiteIt could save a copy of cited web pages, pds, and YouTube videos and transcripts. These copies could be saved to the Substack server and additionally be downloaded to the writers personal hard drive.
The New York Times may not link to unfavored sources, but using CiteIt, Substack writers could automate the process of saving cited sources, while puting the Grey Lady to shame.
View More
To see the Nord Stream Demo, click on the "green button" below: