Responding to the topic of local news, probably not, but we also need to look at what is happening in concrete terms. Several local writers are not only writing on the platform, but are gaining quite a following and growing. Substack is certainly becoming a valid option for certain types of people and for certain types of audiences who want to have direct and quick contact with certain local journalists, allowing them to have a broader, deeper and often less restricted vision from editorial directives. It is certainly an interesting dynamic and worth exploring further.
To answer the question in the subject line: no, I don't think Substack is becoming a hotbed of local news experimentation. The platform isn't well suited to what's-happening-in-town-this-week local news reporting (and I should know, because that's what I publish on it). The network effects which have become so central to Substack's offering do not translate well to news – eg. just because you're interested in local news in Charlotte, NC, that doesn't mean you'll be interested in local news in Manchester, UK or Murray Bridge, South Australia. But Substack is ideally suited to columnists with big followings, like Bob Dunning and Wendy Weitzel, who want to be properly rewarded for their popularity.
Based on what I've discovered experimenting with The Edinburgh Minute, I disagree with the first part of your comment. Adding to the noise of already fractured reporting doesn't seem to be working, but curating that noise does work IMO!
The lack of competition means usually very high conversion rates for serious publications in loca news. The community demand is usually fairly high.
Responding to the topic of local news, probably not, but we also need to look at what is happening in concrete terms. Several local writers are not only writing on the platform, but are gaining quite a following and growing. Substack is certainly becoming a valid option for certain types of people and for certain types of audiences who want to have direct and quick contact with certain local journalists, allowing them to have a broader, deeper and often less restricted vision from editorial directives. It is certainly an interesting dynamic and worth exploring further.
To answer the question in the subject line: no, I don't think Substack is becoming a hotbed of local news experimentation. The platform isn't well suited to what's-happening-in-town-this-week local news reporting (and I should know, because that's what I publish on it). The network effects which have become so central to Substack's offering do not translate well to news – eg. just because you're interested in local news in Charlotte, NC, that doesn't mean you'll be interested in local news in Manchester, UK or Murray Bridge, South Australia. But Substack is ideally suited to columnists with big followings, like Bob Dunning and Wendy Weitzel, who want to be properly rewarded for their popularity.
Based on what I've discovered experimenting with The Edinburgh Minute, I disagree with the first part of your comment. Adding to the noise of already fractured reporting doesn't seem to be working, but curating that noise does work IMO!