The downfall of digital publishing
When I started off in journalism back in 2007 there was so much discourse and enthusiasm surrounding digital publishing. Print circulation stats showed the industry was in dire straits but on the other hand, there was so much investment and buzz around the burgeoning digital startups such as Buzzfeed, Vice, and later a flurry of titles like The Pool (RIP). Perhaps these bright young stars were going to show the traditional publishers that this was the future of journalism, starting with 7 Things You Need to Know From Watching an Episode of Friends. I jest.
Listicles aside, Buzzfeed did go beyond the clickbait at times and publish strong stories often followed up by news titles. But its success didn't last. The publisher closed its newsroom in April and its CEO Jonah Peretti said the company “can no longer continue to fund” the site. Now the latest victim of digital publishing is Vice News, which has just filed for bankruptcy. The site did produce stellar journalism and investigations at times and while the company has just been bought, it's far cry from its hey day when it was valued at a whopping $5.7bn.
Like we’ve known for a while, online revenues simply don’t add up. Early in my journalism days when I covered the publishing patch, even scribing a weekly column called Bearne on Media where I would chart the media landscape, there was so much discussion about how publishers could make journalism pay. The Times made a bold leap and followed the FT’s cue to launch a paywall, much to everyone’s surprise. Many thought it wouldn’t work but they have defeated the naysayers, and subs keep rising.
To succeed, there needs to be a mixture of revenue models. In the world of TikTok and Instagram, advertisers are finding more engagement on those platforms than sticking a banner ad on a website (although, advertising goes beyond that).
What we do need is journalism, and for people to be willing to pay for it. Personally I love buying newspapers and magazines. This is what I pay for:
The Sunday Times (subscription which gives me access to The Times online)
Ethical Consumer (subscription)
The Big Issue (subscription)
The New York Times (subscription)
Guardian or Observer on a weekend
Red
Positive News (probably twice a year)
Conde Nast Traveller (probably twice a year)
Wired (couple of times a year)
Simple Things (couple of times a year)
When I’m travelling, I still need my print fix so I'll either buy Guardian Weekly, The New York Times or the FT Weekend. Sometimes I’ll buy the Economist. Or a few of them if I'm feeling flush (and have run out of papers and magazines brought from home).
Plus I like to buy magazine subscriptions as gifts, say a science one for my nephews, a hiking title for my sister-in-law, and a newsy one for my dad.
I hope you can support journalism. I'll add a post on LinkedIn so we can continue the conversation over there.