Hamish says (on an internet site provided by him) that he is writing his book about the state of the media that will be published later this year. It’s called ‘How to Save the Media’.
(Ostensibly what is printed here was the story told by Hamish and Stephanie at the Rotary meeting on the 14th of July 2026).
It’s a bold title, I know says Hamish, but there’s little doubt that the media is in crisis (at least in the USA where Hamish lives). Even as it seems that more news is being consumed than ever, it hardly feels like we’re getting smarter.
Mad kings rule the media economy and reap the rewards. News organizations are doing mass layoffs. Impartial reporting is out.
But I believe Hamish says, there’s reason to hope. I’ve seen what can happen when publishers take ownership and audiences directly support the work they believe in. I’ve seen a new media market grow from nothing and watched once-struggling writers find financial security. I’ve seen them build new institutions, giving rise to a generation of fresh voices.
And, I’ve seen audiences vote for the culture they want to see, funding the voices and perspectives they value—leading to more than 5 million paid subscriptions on this platform alone. So, I’m capturing this pivotal time in the pages of a book.
How to ‘Save the Media’ is about this era of transition, where old gatekeepers give way to new opportunities and direct relationships reign supreme. It’s about an emerging ecosystem where success doesn’t have to depend on who you know or how well you cater to an algorithm.
It shows a way to recover from the collapse of traditional media, and escape the deranging effects of the attention economy.
This book tackles the biggest questions facing the media and society, from how to protect the free press to how to resist a robot uprising, taking readers into rooms with some of the biggest media power players of our time, including berserk billionaires and heroic hacks.
I’ll blend insider access with outsider perspective, drawing on my history in media and tech across two decades and three continents, from scrabbling freelance journalist to co-founder of Substack.
How to Save the Media will be published by Authors Equity, a new publishing company that practices what this book preaches: authors retain full ownership of their work and receive the majority of the sales revenue.
The cover art on the book is by my exceptional colleague Joro Chen and if you believe in a different future for media: one where creators own their work, audiences help shape the culture they want to thrive, then power flows to people rather than platforms.
This book is about saving the media—but also about making it better than it’s ever been.
