In the wake of mass media layoffs and dwindling marketing budgets, many cannabis journalists have turned to independent platforms, like Substack, to build their own audience for reporting on the plant.
Last week, career cannabis journalist and Managing Editor of San Diego Magazine Jackie Bryant joined the troves of ancillary writers being targeted by Stripe, Substack’s payment platform, for violating their terms of sale — despite merely reporting on the plant — while they continue to host many clients selling cannabis and “paraphernalia” directly.
On Tuesday, March 19, Bryant got an email with the subject line: “[Important] Closure of your Stripe account for Jacqueline Bryant.”
Her newsletter, Cannabitch, is a continuation of the print column of the same name that ran in San Diego CityBeat until the publication folded in March 2020. As a way to save her audience and her stories, she launched the vertical on Substack for free and has remained un-paywalled ever since, accepting voluntary support for her work.
Today, Cannabitch holds the “best blog” title from the 2021 and 2022 San Diego Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, an honorable mention for “Best Solo Newsletter” from the 2022 New York University American Journalism Online Awards, and her essay “California’s Weed Country is Lit” was included in Padma Lakshmi’s 2021 Best American Travel Writing anthology, published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
It is also, apparently, in violation of Substack’s sole payment platform, Stripe, and its “terms of sales” for merely reporting on the oft-litigated plant, and is no longer eligible to receive payment.
Naturally, Bryant “raised hell” (her words) on X, citing that Stripe has, notably, publicly platformed and supported Nazis through their partnership with Substack, but is choosing to draw the line here.
Of course, she got a DM from Stripe Support letting her know they would re-review her case. …
Read More
Author: Clare Sausen / High Times
