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Profile: James Ledbetter, Substack Author

In trendy and media trade media at least, the Substack-as-new-model-for-journalism story seems to have already come and gone. Yet there’s so much more left to tell. Perhaps the Substack story’s next phase is best told inside out, through the eyes of a newly self-minted author — such as James Ledbetter.

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The New Era of Fintech Coverage: Payments & Banking

SWMS contributor Rhiannon Pacheco writes: With Covid keeping people out of the aisles and in front of their screens, buying more online than ever before, fintech and ‘buy-now-pay-later’ companies such as Klarna, Affirm, AfterPay, Marqueta are rising in popularity and dominating recent headlines.

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Payments & Banking: Targets and Themes

Based on our research, here’s a look at story types most common in the payments and banking spaces these days, coupled with a short list of must-pitch reporters, and some diamonds in the rough, too. Keep a sharp lookout for the story types, using them as templates for your own approaches.

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Here are Two Fintech Narratives Adaptable for Any Client

Why did we choose payments and banking for the latest SWMS deep-dive? Everybody buys something. If the payments space doesn’t constitute the largest total available market of all time, it’s close. Banking? For a decade, startups have struggled to monetize those who don’t use banks, or barely use them.

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FRIDGE NOTES

Much of Gen Z Searches on Social, Not Google

Says Digiday today: 40 percent of Gen Z uses TikTok or Instagram when searching for lunch recommendations. The younger you go, the tighter the grip held by platforms. Musk’s calculation that few will ever leave X might not be too far off in the long run.

Digiday: Journalists Taking A Dim View of Gen AI

Digiday granted anonymity to seven journalists working in shops that are experimenting with generative AI. “Nothing we have found is ready for prime time, at least not for serious journalism purposes,” says one, adding that “there is no way that AI results in more people being in journalism. This only can result in less.”

Some individuals said they dabble with Gen AI to find good headlines and story ideas.

The last word seemed to go to Insider EIC Nic Carlson, who said, “AI will replace, over time, journalists who refuse to use AI.”

NYT Insists on ‘C.E.O.’

We’ve been working on updating our CEO Profile cheat sheet and noticed that only the New York Times insists on calling these executives C.E.O.s. How stuffy. And the C.E.O.s they do cover always seem to be resigning for one reason or another. We’ll have the updated cheat sheet ready for you very soon. The FT’s ‘How To Lead’ feature appears to be in hiatus. The WSJ has some opportunity in WSJ Magazine.

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