Sinclair, one of the country’s largest local broadcast groups, is launching The National Press, a national news brand on Substack built on reporting from roughly 1,200 journalists across its 60 local newsrooms, Axios reported October 6. Independent journalist and former Newsmax co-host Lyndsay Keith will anchor the publication, which was developed with New Media, a company founded by Free Press veteran Alex Chitty, with Vice co-founder Shane Smith among its investors. Readers can subscribe for free or pay for ad-free and extended content. CEO Chris Ripley said revenue growth will be the top measure of success, followed by subscriber growth, and acknowledged that Sinclair’s earlier digital brand, Circa, was a “failure” after four years. The launch shows legacy media companies now treating newsletter platforms as a core distribution channel.
Sources: Axios.