Stuff shares US$1m

AUCKLAND, Today: Stuff has become the first global recipient of funding from Substack Local, an US initiative that is designed to accelerate the launch and success of local news publications on the platform.

The programme includes the awarding of US$ 1 million of funding for local news writers around the world, and as part of this Stuff is receiving funding it will use to launch two newsletters. 

Stuff editorial director Mark Stevens said: “We see this as a great opportunity to learn about the rising popularity of paid newsletters, the type of newsletter content people in NZ are willing to pay for, and new revenue models that we might be able to tap into in the future.

“We see this as a great opportunity to learn about the rising popularity of paid newsletters.”

“It also augments our deep reporting of local issues on Stuff and in our newspapers.

“The details of the newsletters, including how we will appoint or recruit the journalists and the communities they will focus on, are being determined as we speak.

“It’s clear from the discussions that Stuff and Substack have shared to date that we have a common interest in helping local journalism flourish.

“We look forward to sharing more details of the experiment as they are confirmed.”

• Details here