Jim Acosta's World Bends To Substack's Truth

Welcome, Jim Acosta. I hope you find your voice here.

Jim Acosta — best known for acting like a spoiled infant refusing to give up a rattler during a Q&A with President Trump during his first term — was recently rewarded for his “journalistic integrity” by being relegated to the midnight shift on CNN.

The network, fresh off watching its preferred Presidential candidate get blown out while the entire podcasting and “new”/alternative media world laughed and ridiculed it, is apparently rethinking its priorities. Long overdue.

And, well, Acosta would have been relegated to the midnight slot — except, in true “you can’t fire me, I quit!” fashion — he took his ball and went home, leaving the network and announcing on air to the world he was quitting.

The man who helped peddle both the Russian collusion hoax and “the science” during Covid on the network that outright lied to the public on multiple key issues the last decade, left with the ironic parting words:

“Don’t give in to the lies, don’t give in to the fear.”

That flaccid declaration was then followed by Acosta declaring he was going out on his own and moving to Substack. Acosta said on his new Substack account:

“Let me just say this, I have had quite the day. I am going independent, at least for now. This is just the beginning, but I wanted to invite you to join me here on this platform as we talk about the day’s news, talk about politics, and so on.”

A good friend of mine told me the other day that the world “bends to the truth.” In context, he meant that no matter what people are saying, the truth always finds a way of seeping out and imposing its will on the world.

I couldn’t help but reflect on that while reading the news about Jim Acosta.

It’s hilarious that over the last few years, Substack has been written off as a home for only conspiracy theorists and renegade journalists that supposedly don’t belong in the mainstream. Of course, for years, I’ve been arguing that Substack is just the opposite: a fertile breeding ground of critically thought-out ideas, raised by a collective of people who, for the most part, are interested in getting to the objective truth of matters more than anything else.

And if I had to bet money on it, I would guess that at some point during his on-air career or off-the-air discussions, Jim Acosta joined a long chorus of people—like Chelsea Clinton—who lashed out at Substack and even, in one instance, called us Substack authors “grifters.”

But the truth has a funny way of dishing out karma. It was arguably CNN’s inability to tell the objective truth that helped put Donald Trump into the White House this go-round. It also arguably helped accelerate the shift toward alternative media sources for people near the center of the political aisle who just have an interest in, at the very least, hearing both sides of a story.

It’s funny now to see people like Acosta, former mainstream left-wing journalists like Taylor Lorenz, and a couple of people from The Washington Post embrace what Substack has to offer: free speech and a platform that isn’t going to censor them. If the libertarian and right-wing desire for free speech and autonomy doesn’t make sense to them—now that they are finding refuge in it—they’re never going to get it.

I’ll always think Jim Acosta is a clown for how he’s acted, but I welcome him onto the platform. After all, I acted like a infantile imbecile through most of my teen years and 20s, too. In my 30s, I committed to trying to reform my behavior actively. In my 40s, I’m seeking sobriety and even further personal growth. Maybe Jim is on a similar journey. I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt.

And hey — I’ve said many times over, I have no desire to hear only one side to any story, regardless of what my personal opinion is and what the topic is. I’m always interested in hearing all of the facts and then making my decision accordingly. And so, for that reason, I’ll tell you what I don’t need to if you’re already my subscriber: vibrant free speech is a beautiful thing.

But the irony of this move isn’t lost on me and shouldn’t be lost on you either.

Substack is a desirable place to be a journalist not just because it makes one’s individual work easy to monetize and provides a wonderful direct-to-reader experience, but because it welcomes all opinions and the company had the foresight to understand that being accepting of everybody—even those people that may have cast off the platform in days prior—is better as a long-term asset than a short-term, prideful sticking point.

I hope it’s no secret to my subscribers that I’m immensely appreciative of having you as readers. This blog has been cathartic for me in so many ways, and I couldn’t possibly imagine the kindness that you have all shown me as I work to express my opinions and curate content. That gratitude extends to Substack as well, and I’ve told them as much privately.

And now, publicly, I want to congratulate them—not just on the platform’s success, but in how it was made manifest: by having confidence in free speech and a shared pursuit of the objective truth, and then letting the world bend around Substack instead of Substack bending around the world. Congratulations to the Substack team… and even to you, Jim Acosta. I hope this is a new chapter in a journey where you begin to truly find your voice.

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