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There have been waves of debate about the relative de/merits of different ‘after-twitter’ platforms and about the propriety of people promoting ‘commercial’ (=bill-paying) work. But one thing that’s gotten a bit lost (at least in my corner of the fediverse) is plain-old promotion of specific, solid indy #journalism. Like Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) and Noah Berlatsky (@nberlat). Their Substack-based newsletter does what critics of major outlets say journalism *should* do: consistently meld detailed coverage with critical analysis of the bigger picture. Today’s issue is a great example. Most people would be forgiven for not caring too much about New York State’s governor nominating some MAGA CHUD to a state court. But the sharply detailed way Rupar and Berlatsky cover it casts these events in terms of a critique of the larger fetish for #bipartisanship, which has national and even global impact. It’s not their fault that US journalism is a disaster, or that we lack better ways than Substack/etc to sustain them. On the contrary, I think they (and many others, notably Judd Legum, @juddlegum) are doing the daily work of building better kinds of journalism. Since they probably need to be a bit delicate in how they promote their publications, maybe others can take a few minutes when the mood strikes to give them — and other indy journos — a lift?

https://aaronrupar.substack.com/p/kathy-hochul-hector-lasalle-bipartisanship