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.

An insight into the commissioning process

The topic for this blog comes from a question asked in my last workshop: do editors ask me to write stories on certain subjects or do I pitch ideas?

Good question. I’ve gone through periods, especially back in the day at trade magazines, where pretty much all the feature briefs were fielded out to me by the features editor rather than me pitching. But when I started working for the nationals and consumer titles and those editors didn’t know me from Adam, I had to pitch fresh ideas myself. These days, it’s a combination. Sometimes an editor will drop me an email and ask if I have any ideas and could I send them over, other times they’ll send me a brief and ask if I have availability to work on it. I’d say most of the time now I’m in a fortunate position to work on ideas I want to work on (usually that means they're sustainability focused, or feel-good/solutions-based journalism). One editor knows not to contact me with suggestions as I’m quite particular about what I want to cover for that particular title. I wasn’t always in this fortunate position and I know things could change again and so I don’t take it for granted. Although I’m far from raking it in, due to the media consultancy (the workshops, the online course, the content network agency and the Power Hours), I no longer have to say yes to absolutely every single potential commission that lands in my inbox, giving me the luxury and breathing space to focus more on stories that I’m interested in, and generally for publications I want to write for.

Of course, this is just my way of working. There’ll be freelancers who won’t write for certain publications if they asked them, there’ll be some that due to the terrible rates in journalism need to accept any work that comes their way, while some journalists will only work on particular features for high-paying publications.

If you have any subjects that you would like me to discuss in a future workshop or newsletter, please send them over as I’m always on the lookout for new ideas.

It pays to be kind

I’d finally refilled my Le Labo bottle after several failed attempts and was happily walking to my workspace in London when I was suddenly reminded of an arrogant entrepreneur in one of the beats I used to cover. A veteran in the industry, he was a strong contact of the magazine and was one of the first people I interviewed when I joined. From the offset he was rude, condescending, and always tried to assert control. In order to continue dealing with him I had to put my feelings towards him to one side. When I broke free, I never had to deal with him on that level again – well, till I was freelancing on a newsdesk and I wrote a critical story about his company and then he turned on me. Karma anyone? 

Over the years since I’ve been freelance I’ve had different PR agencies put him forward for interview slots. He might be a name, but when I think of him I just remember that sense of entitlement and his overwhelming arrogance. It’s always a big fat NO from me. We all know it pays to be kind, but if you or your client are rude or a walking ego, journalists (like most people) remember, meaning perhaps they won’t want to work with you or your client again in the future.

What Not To Do In A Media Interview

Photo by Austin Distel

Hi everyone,

I hope you're having a great week.

A while back I was interviewing a CEO for a profile interview slot. Let's say the person was the boss of a savings app. Towards the end of the interview, I asked her what her ultimate savings goal was. A very simple question. "Erm, erm,” she stuttered. “Well, nothing really. Maybe a holiday.” I pressed further but she was stumped. It was a dry answer to what overall had been quite a dry interview. There was no excitement at all. 

Tip: It might be difficult to inject a sparkling personality into your clients, but please try and ask them to sound enthusiastic.

I'm bringing this up as I'm pleased to say that next month media trainer, podcaster and speaker Guy Clapperton will be joining me for a webinar on media training. During the session on July 16, Guy will explore:
 

• how to deliver clear and engaging messages whether you're on TV, radio, a podcast or being interviewed for a print article

• what kind of preparation you should do before an interview

• how to talk about statistics in an interesting way

You'll also have the opportunity to ask Guy any burning questions (feel free to email me any questions below and we can include it in the session).

The webinar is aimed at both those who are new to speaking to the media, and those wanting to brush up on their interview techniques, whilst hearing first-hand about what works for a journalist. It's open to founders and PRs (and your clients) so feel free to swing them the link.

Those attending will also receive a special discount when booking any future media training workshops with Guy.

The webinar will be recorded so even if you can't make it live, you'll be able to watch it again at your own leisure whenever you like.

Tickets are just £19.99 – which is an absolute steal for media training.

For more info and to book, head here (do send on the link to anyone you think might be interested). The session is just £15 for paid newsletter subscribers (simply email me if you'd like to jump on board).

I'd be grateful if you could mention it on any social media sites groups you're on!

 

Thanks

Susie

Why I'm Not Going To Be Covering Your Press Release

Every day my inbox is teeming with press releases. News of a new launch. A new product. A merger. A new campaign. Some of the news I might have written in my old life as a reporter, whereas the title might indicate, my job was to cover news in my industry. During that time, strong interesting stories pinging in my inbox were gratefully received.

But not now. Today, like many freelancers, I write features. So those press releases dropping in my inbox are often a waste of time for everyone. As well as most not concerning the sectors I write about (that's another newsletter), the simple fact is I don't write news stories so I'm not going to be reporting on your press release. I no longer sit on a news desk writing about new launches so the hard truth is that unless you're able to come up with a solid feature idea (something I talk about a lot in my webinars and online course) related to the press release, it can be just a waste of an email.

Also, it's worth pointing out that if the news is going to get picked up, it will be covered by an in-house journalist so if we pitched the idea to an editor – it's already out there. And they're not going to pay us to write up a news release. As much as I wish during these challenging times.