Bill Rice, Jr.: 15-01-2025, Anti-MAGA columnist Bob Dunning is an example of a Substacker whose Covid metrics are hard to reconcile with common sense.
I embarked on my Substack Subscription Research Project for several reasons, two of which are:
1) I’m skeptical of many of Substack’s subscriber metrics.
2) Per my observations, Substack’s PR team seems to promote the newsletters of liberal authors who always seem to protect the Status-Quo narratives.
An analysis of the metrics of Substack author Bob Dunning supports the above two points.
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Quick Aside: Mr. Dunning is probably a very nice man, a person you wouldn’t mind babysitting your kids (as long as you aren’t a MAGA supporter or vaccine skeptic). However, his newsletter provides glaring “red flags” that support my skepticism.
(For writing samples proving Dunning’s ultra-liberal, over-the-top anti-MAGA bona fides, see today’s Reader Comments. Note: I had fun composing my “11-word essays.”)
My bigger concern is the possibility Substack is showing favoritism toward “Statist” writers … or is not giving equal and fair treatment to the roster of “Covid Contrarians” or “freedom” writers (like those I recently identified in this list.)
I also continue to wonder if the paid and total subscriber numbers of authors like myself are being suppressed or manipulated.
Note: The following information comes from a feature story and “Q&A” written by Substack managing editor Hannah Ray,