Why the Emergence of Substack?

This isn’t news or analysis, I’m just going to be personal with you all for a moment.

I’m seeing lots of chatter and feedback about displeasure with independent journalists using Substack, and accepting donations/paid subscriptions.

So I’m going to address my particular situation and perhaps shed a little light on what many citizen journalists are experiencing, and why I myself started a Substack.

Firstly, my Substack articles do not have a pay wall. They are free, and always will be free. Paid subscribers are merely donating for my work.

And to clarify, this is not a side gig for me. This is my job. This is my only source of income. Out of necessity. Because I can’t get a job in the public world.

Not everyone knows this, but my name is tied to this whole thing. Go ahead and Google “Jacob Creech”. The first articles are hit pieces from Daily Beast and ADL, smearing me as a conspiracy theorist for my reporting on the biolabs in Ukraine (Reporting that turned out to be 100% correct). Every background check for any job application, that’s the first thing they see. Companies view me as a liability.

Also, I’ve never been a “journalist”. I was  in the Army, I worked for a Google partner company, I managed restaurants and wineries. I’m just a dude who noticed what was going on and is really good at articulating it, and spent years honing the craft. That’s it. I have zero professional experience in the field.

But now I find myself in a situation where my ability to generate income is solely tied to my reporting, which for years was simply a hobby. Now I don’t have a choice. This is all I have. Saying I have “skin” in the game, is a vast understatement. My life in many ways depends on it.

And if you all want to know how much I’m making, here are my numbers:

As of today I have 11,900 total Substack subscribers. 509 of them are paid subscribers at $5 a month or $50 a year. Meaning 12% of you all here on Telegram are free subscribers and 0.5% of you all are paid subscribers.

My annual revenue as of now is just above $27,000 a year. After Substack takes 10% and Stripe takes 3%, that leaves me roughly $24,000 net a year. Which I am extremely thankful for.

You all have no idea how thankful I am for the support, but it’s not enough to live off of as of yet. I’ve been using my savings to stay alive until I can generate enough income to make a liveable wage. I just want to make it abundantly clear that I’m not making a fortune off of fellow Patriots.

I knew what I was doing when I stepped into the fray, and I knew the consequences of my actions. I will own them until the day I die and I shall do so proudly. I will never stop providing accurate reporting, because I truly believe I am making a positive impact on the world.

But how can I claim to be saving the world, and charge a fee? I couldn’t. Therefore I won’t. So I offer everything for free, as well as the ability for you all to donate if you so choose. And to the gracious souls who are willing to donate I am forever grateful.

I hoped this provides some clarity for all the people out there who don’t like what I’m doing, and throw around the term “paytriot”. Please understand that everything I provide is for free, and I’ve sacrificed more than most to provide accurate Intel that the media refuses to cover from across the globe.

I spend my days translating Ukrainian and Russian news, patrolling wide variety of echo chambers, and compiling the most pertinent stories to the global awakening. If you’d like to thank me, please consider donating. If you don’t want to, I completely understand, I still want you to enjoy my content, but please don’t make false claims like I’m a grifter or a paytriot.

I preach transparency and I will practice it as well.

Respectfully,

-Clandestine