The news: Substack, a subscription platform that houses blogs, newsletters, podcasts, and more, is working to become a jack of all trades that supports both legacy media figures and independent creators.

• An influx of news personalities and social creators have joined Substack’s user base, helping to boost the platform to 5 million paid subscribers, up from 3 million at this time last year.
• Substack is also investing in visual content—it launched a scrollable video feed, capitalizing on interest in short-form video and positioning itself as (another) TikTok alternative.