I was quibbling the other day about something Paul Wells had on his Substack, so it's only fair to say I am charmed as well as enlightened by his most recent Substack post, a memoir about covering the 1995 Quebec Referendum as a newish journalist in Montreal that also offers some perceptive testimony to that moment in history .
I retain very vivid memories of the 1976 Quebec referendum, and somehow the 1995 one seemed at the time like "first time tragedy, second time farce" and I obsessed much less over it. 1995 was not like that for Paul Wells.
In recent years I've been interested in Paul Wells not just for his commentary, but also from wondering if he will make a go of it as a self-sustaining commentator on Canadian politics. We always hear of people -- from the Kardashians to Paul Krugman and Heather Cox Richardson-- making nice incomes from Patreons, YouTube channels, Substacks, and all the other digital media that become hot for a while.
But I'm pretty sure those people are pretty much all Americans or people pitching to the vast American (and global) audience.
Does any individual make any significant revenue through income from online subscribers who are paying for material directed exclusively at Canadian topics? Yes, collective journalism projects like The Tyee and The Local continue, though always seeking more support. But I'm thinking of writers, individual journalists, maybe videographers, and the like.
When Paul Wells left magazine journalism, he had (I seem to recall) both some university support and some private or foundation backing for his venture into becoming self-supporting online, as well as lots of Canada-wide name recognition -- and lots to say too, for sure. Few others had a better shot at succeeding, I thought. If he made a go of it, it would be a sign it was at least possible.
Recently, at a time when Substack, having swallowed paleo-blogging, seems to be becoming swallowed up by video presentations, Wells reported he was giving up the video portion of his Substack as not cost-effective. That did not sound like a Paul Wells IPO might be coming soon. Do online videostorians and the like actually support their habit with Canadian content?
I have never monetized this blog, first because I never expected anyone to read it. And even when I realized it was getting views, I still very much doubted the revenue potential in that. And the fact that I can quit it whenever it ceases to amuse me has remained important to me. The moment this became an income source, I would suddenly have a goat to feed. Who wants that responsibility?
But I remain intrigued by the market for Canadian-focussed online commentary. Thoughts?
