Legacy media has a new problem

Millions of people chose independent journalism over corporate media, and it changed everything.

We just beat Fox News and CNN.

What on earth am I talking about? Well, I’ll tell you.

According to the latest YouTube rankings from Cluvio, The David Pakman Show is now the 26th most-viewed YouTube news account. Fox News sits at number 30. CNN is number 38.

To be clear, this ranking is specific to YouTube over a particular period of time. I’m not claiming that our operation is larger than Fox News or CNN as entire companies. They have television networks, websites, international bureaus, and resources that most independent creators could never dream of.

That’s exactly what makes this so remarkable.

Fox News is backed by one of the largest media empires in the world. CNN is owned by one of the biggest media conglomerates on the planet. They have enormous staffs, massive production budgets, marketing departments, and the ability to promote their YouTube channels across entire television networks.

We have none of that.

There was no billionaire who decided to fund years of losses while we built an audience. There was no corporate parent company steering viewers our way. We built this one video at a time, one conversation at a time, and one subscriber at a time.

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Every person who watched an interview, shared a clip with a friend, subscribed on YouTube, became a member, or supported this newsletter helped make this possible.

That matters because it says something much bigger than where one channel happens to rank this month.

For years, the assumption was that independent media could exist alongside legacy outlets but would always remain smaller, with fewer resources and less influence. Increasingly, that assumption is proving to be wrong.

People are making a conscious decision to get their news somewhere else.

They’re looking for voices that aren’t filtered through corporate priorities or executive boardrooms. They’re looking for analysis that doesn’t begin with the question, “What will maximize shareholder value?”

That shift isn’t happening because someone handed independent media a shortcut. It’s happening because millions of people have decided they want something different.

What makes this milestone even more meaningful is when it arrives.

Over the last several months, the pressure on independent media has only intensified.

The Trump White House placed me on its official “Media Offenders” list. Donald Trump Jr. and Karoline Leavitt have amplified attacks against me. There have reportedly been efforts to interfere with the distribution of my previous book, and I fully expect similar attempts surrounding my upcoming book, Pay Attention.

The broader strategy is obvious. Smear independent voices. Convince audiences they can’t be trusted. Make it harder for critics to reach people.

The encouraging news is that it isn’t working.

In fact, while all of that has been happening, this show climbed sixteen spots in the rankings and moved ahead of both Fox News and CNN on YouTube.

That doesn’t happen because of algorithms alone.

It happens because viewers make deliberate choices.

Independent media doesn’t have a corporate safety net. If advertisers pull back, if platforms change their algorithms, or if powerful people decide they’d rather we disappear, there isn’t a parent company waiting to absorb the damage.

The audience is the safety net.

Every subscription, every membership, every shared video, every paid Substack subscription strengthens our ability to keep doing this work without asking permission from anyone.

That’s why this milestone belongs just as much to you as it does to me.

When you choose to support independent journalism, you’re doing more than helping one show grow. You’re helping build an alternative to a media system that, for too long, has been dominated by a handful of massive corporations.

We’re proving that another model can work.

And apparently, it can even outperform the old one.

So thank you.

Whether you’ve watched for years, recently discovered the show, shared an episode with a friend, become a member, or subscribed here on Substack, you’ve helped make this possible.

If you’d like to help us keep climbing, there are plenty of ways to do it. Subscribe on YouTube if you haven’t already. Share a clip that you found valuable. Consider becoming a member. And if you’re interested in the ideas behind everything we’ve been talking about, I’d also appreciate you preordering my new book, Pay Attention.

Every one of those actions helps ensure that independent media doesn’t just survive.

It grows.

And based on what we’ve seen over the last few months, that’s exactly what’s happening.

Let’s keep building.

—David