Substack: China’s New Frontier for Media Control

A broader examination of ‘Media Studios’ brings to light a curious development – the conscious endeavor by Chinese state-affiliated media bodies to sway global viewpoints through media practitioners operating at arm’s length. A noticeable trend in recent times is the discernible interest in Substack newsletters.

Chinese state-controlled media have single-mindedly earmarked Western ‘elites’ as their target audience through Substack newsletters, as discerned from a spate of recent write-ups in their industry. The past years have seen local media establishments keenly experimenting with newsletters as a vehicle for personalized communication, applaudably succeeding in shaping the outlook of core groups and functioning as an innovative ‘light cavalry’ in international discourse.

Substack, with its appeal to those currently dismissive of mass media, empowers writers to engage directly with their readership. This feature presents a golden opportunity for Chinese state media, routinely obstructed, tagged, or suppressed on global platforms.

Substack serves the Chinese state apparatus by enabling it to ‘navigate around algorithms’, and ‘effectively curate information for particular audiences’. In contrast to other forms of media, newsletters offer a durable, subtle approach. Establishing a ‘gentle symbiotic relationship’ with a ‘select group’ of influencers enables the state to subtly shape the opinions of readers on critical matters, consequently fostering a ‘right understanding of China’.

Prestigious Chinese state-run media entities, such as Xinhua, have only had modest results in their attempts to cultivate following via Substack. Occasionally, the success of a Substack rests on concealing the identity of its author and clouding the extent to which the content is backed by the state.

The article mentions ‘Beijing Channel’ having a follower count of over 4,000, which astonishingly comprises ‘all diplomats serving in China, international media’s reporters, and scholars’. The International Department of Xinhua News Agency, leveraging the demand for superior China-centric content among influential personalities, initiated the ‘Beijing Channel’ newsletter.

Chinese state media presents an intriguing ecosystem, with organizations competitively vying for eyeballs while simultaneously being obliged to share their insights. Foreign propaganda should ‘amplify the strategic congruence among institutions and departments’.

Various individuals synonymous with running Substack are among these, such as You Zhixin, who operates the Shanghai Miscellanea and self-identifies as merely ‘a journalist in Shanghai’. Overlooked is her connection to Xinhua. Similarly, Yingshi ‘Fred’ Gao who authors Inside China is associated with CGTN, as is Einar Tangen of Asia Narratives, labelled as a senior fellow of CCG.

Observations suggest these efforts are yielding results. As stated by state media, their ‘influence is escalating’. While majority state-generated posts on Substack generally garner minimal to zero interaction, some content manages to penetrate widely.

A notification by Xinhua’s Beijing Channel – a rendition of an Elon Musk write-up for China Cyberspace, hit the one million views mark following Musk’s own commentary. State media have begun using the attention garnered by established Substack personalities as a benchmark for gauging their progress.

However, a set of challenges exist. Chinese Substack operations have lagged behind Western counterparts in terms of their start times. The majority operate in isolation, hampered by a lack of coordination and, therefore, are yet to attain scale or gather momentum.

The most daunting hurdle has been left unspoken: state media find themselves trapped, besieged by credibility issues. They are acutely aware that anything they publish will be scrutinized through the lens of being ‘Party Endorsed’ – hence, the urge to obscure their origins.

Yet, maneuvering within Substack’s close-knit, informed community poses its own challenges, where audience trust forms the foundation and news permeates swiftly. Any attempts at disguise could backfire.