#16 — Are subscriptions bad for democracy?
Hey there – it’s that time of week for your hand-picked reads about all things publishing 😎Enjoy!
💯 Top picks
Are subscriptions bad for democracy?
The team at Substack argue nope: “A media business based on a practice where journalism is given away free is anti-public because it undermines the economic model that makes the media robust.”
💸 Business models
Increasing audience revenue while minimising advertising loss
This article advocates a data-driven and strategic approach to the subscriptions business model that involves understanding your potential subscriber base and the pitfalls of lost advertising!
Sports-only subscriptions – go niche or go home!
At risk of sounding like a broken record… didn’t we say niche audiences were the ones to go after? While sports-news members sites like The Athletic are booming, some American newspapers are now following suit with sports-only subscriptions.
Join the club: What publishers can learn from alternative communities
Emily Goligoski leads New York’s Membership Puzzle Project, researching sustainable business models for journalism. The project has been researching communities, art projects and co-ops to investigate what the publishing industry can learn from other member-driven movements!
✍️ Modern journalism
Publishers vs Platforms and EU regulations
European Parliament want to overhaul copyright law to require sites to monitor copyrighted material and make them legally liable for any sharing of copyrighted material. This would give publishers the right to charge platforms for displaying their content… but does this come at a cost?
A note on honouring digital pioneers
The Guardian were trailblazing the podcast format with the first ever daily news and current affairs podcast back in 2016. But then they axed it, and now they’re reintroducing the format… without acknowledging the past!
👩💻 Technology
The Science Behind 100,000-View Blog Posts
An interesting post about the lifecycle of digital content and a new way to measure success from the content/marketing gurus over at Animalz.
🤷 WTF?
Close your browser tabs (but open this one first)
This is like one of those articles about minimalism in your house to benefit your mental health, except with minimalism in your browser to benefit your writing. Open up a tab and have a read!
