Substack, the New “Home” for Cultural Journalism

The crisis in the media industry has led some journalists to explore professional alternatives on platforms like Patreon, Ghost, Medium, and Substack—best known for their newsletter services and member-based paid subscriptions. These platforms operate independently of social media, allowing writers to build and maintain their own communities. This article explores a contemporary model of online literary mediation through a qualitative case study that combines cultural studies approaches with in-depth interviews. Focusing on a platform called Substack, the research analyzes how cultural content—particularly book recommendations and cultural commentary—is produced by journalists and writers. Despite the increasing presence of such content in mass media, this phenomenon remains underexplored in the academic literature. This study addresses that gap by examining the practices of cultural journalists in Spain on Substack.