A US model for local news sustainability from @pressgazette PLUS the New York Times' subscription content re-bundling

July 01, 2022

It's a really chunky day of media business news, and after reading about headaches for UK local media providers and the declining numbers of local US newspapers since 2005, it's easy to be gloomy. Over the past 10 years, I've been looking for replicable, scalable media business models, especially for local news. The Press Gazette delivers just that with an interview with Chris Krewson of LION (Local Independent Online News) Publishers and profiles of a number of their members. Whether that model is a metered paywall or local corporate sponsorship, the models flex depending on the community. I have seen a lot of outlets fail to grow beyond being passion projects, but with the case studies that the Press Gazette highlighted, they highlight models delivering solid six- and low seven-figure income. That is enough to support multiple reporters, and the growth trajectory is promising too.

It's nice to see sustainability both at the small, local level that we've seen at larger national and international outlets, such as the New York Times and the Financial Times. These two pioneering papers have been iterating their audience revenue strategies for years. The New York Times continues to tweak its subscription packages, adding things like recipes, crosswords, reviews (Wirecutter), and now The Athletic. It feels like re-bundling after the great unbundling that happened in the early phases of digital content when specialist sites peeled off audience and revenue by focusing on niches that they covered much better than generalist newspapers.

Of course, the Financial Times isn't a generalist newspaper, and it was ahead of even the New York Times when it came to developing digital reader revenue streams. And Brian Morrissey talks about a session that he recently did with the FT about how niche content requires niche ad products. Amen to that. When I was blogs editor at The Guardian, my strategy was to mine lucrative niches such as food and video games for audiences and revenue. It took some effort to align the advertising model with that strategy, but those efforts have been durable long after I left.

Plus:

  • 13 headaches for UK local news publishers

  • As economies slow so will digital advertising (but the news isn't all grim, slower growth but growth).

  • Pew Research: The social media platforms used by journalists differ from those used by the general public.

  • Twitter Spaces adds recording and other management tools, which is another example of the growth of audio content.

  • How to structure your product team for growth. (I'm endlessly fascinated about how news organisations can learn from other industries on how to structure their operations to take advantage of new growth opportunities.)

Press Gazette has been reporting on British journalism without fear or favour since 1965. Our mission is to provide a news and information service which helps the UK journalism.

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The social media sites that journalists use most frequently for their jobs differ from those that the public turns to for news.  

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Structure can make the situation better, but only if it is designed correctly for growth. Good structure provides a scaffold that allows your organization to grow. Poor structure can make things worse.