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Meservey: Substack's controversial free-speech stance succeeded by aligning with core writers

Lulu Cheng Meservey · Navigating comms and PR | Lulu Cheng Meservey (Substack, Activision Blizzard) · Mar 23, 2023 · at 13:46

Lulu Cheng Meservey, former head of comms at Substack, explains why publicly defending Substack's free expression stance worked out despite controversy.

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“So that was a risk that I took and we took and they were supportive and it did work out because the people who were most likely to write on Substack generally appreciate that stance.”

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