How do we keep quality journalism alive as traditional revenue models become inapt? Digital seems to be our only salvation, with readers flooding online for their news. In 2020 online news traffic has grown 76%, but increased audience numbers don\u2019t necessarily translate into increased revenue.<\/p>\n
In the recent Future of Media online event, partnered with\u00a0Vodacom<\/a>,\u00a0EziAds<\/a>,\u00a0Primedia Outdoor<\/a>,\u00a0The MediaShop<\/a>,\u00a0TILT<\/a>,\u00a0The FM Redzone<\/a>,\u00a0Wan-Irfa<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0The Media Online<\/a>, the focus was on digital revenue models emerging in SA, where panellists were asked to share their successes and challenges as they figure out how to monetise news in a digital landscape.<\/p>\n Kicking of the discussion, moderator Siya Sangweni asked the panellists how they decided on their chosen revenue model.<\/p>\n \u201cTrial and error,\u201d said Daily Maverick\u2019s CEO and publisher Styli Charalambous. Daily Maverick soon realised it was never going to raise enough revenue to cover costs as a digital-only publisher focusing on political coverage in SA. Not wanting to put its content behind a paywall, it opted for a voluntary membership model. \u201cContent can move a country,\u201d said Charalambous. \u201cAnd you can\u2019t do that when only a few people have access to that content\u201d.<\/p>\n Riaan Wolmarans, head of digital: media, Arena Holdings, described a different journey and set of challenges. \u201cFirst was getting the tech right: Arena relaunched all its old websites and developed a\u00a0 new content management system. Then, it was finding the appropriate paywall, settling on freemium content, where readers still get free content, but pay for rest. Then came the hardest job: convincing readers to pay\u201d, he elaborated.<\/p>\n CEO of the World Association of News Publishers Vincent Peyr\u00e8gne was asked about what SA can learn from global experience. \u201cSuccess requires a culture shift\u201d, he said. \u201cThere needs to be a new level of collaboration between newsrooms, tech developers and marketing departments. News organisations also need to \u201ccome up with a product that offers \u201cthe right content, to the right audience, at the right time\u201d.<\/p>\n Jorja Wilkins, marketing and marketing services executive at Primedia Outdoor explained that \u201cTech came to the rescue, with new digital capabilities saving as many campaigns as possible, and helping Primedia identify which audiences where on roads at which time of day. Out-of-home (OOH) advertising also served the community with important public service messages about Covid\u201d.<\/p>\n Moving on to the all-important subject of content, Sangweni asked the panellists how they ensure they have content that keeps consumers wanting more.<\/p>\n Charalambous emphasised the importance of understanding your audience and creating value in their eyes. And he says data analytics and tech can help with that. But firstly, an organisation\u00a0 needs to be absolutely clear on what its vision and mission is. And it needs to understand how that overlaps with the needs of the audience, because \u201cit\u2019s in that overlap that the magic happens\u201d, he said.<\/p>\n Wolmarans agreed, saying that before you launch a paywall, you first have to ask yourself the difficult question: \u201cdo you have content worth paying for? And sometimes the answer is \u201cwell nothing right now\u201d. Again, good research is critical: \u201cif you don\u2019t understand the demographics of your readers, any paywall is a non-starter. And once a paywall is up, it needs to evolve: Like a \u201cliving beast\u201d, he said, it needs daily care and attention.<\/p>\n So which is the winning revenue model?<\/p>\n Wilkins said Primedia Outdoor chose a hybrid model of both classic and programmatic ads for OOH. She said while digital is growing, traditional models are still making money, so it\u2019s about getting the balance right.<\/p>\n Similarly, Wolmarans said that \u201clegacy print is still making good money on print ads, so we can\u2019t drop everything and focus only on digital. Monetisation is not just trying to make up for what is lost on the print side, but making it an entirely self-sustainable revenue stream\u201d.<\/p>\n According to Charalambous, the main thing is to innovate on users. \u201cDon\u2019t be driven by what your competitors are doing, don\u2019t just chase profits: focus on your audience\u201d.<\/p>\n And audiences need to be able to trust you.<\/p>\n Wolmarans quotes Jeffrey Goldberg, editor-in-chief of The Atlantic magazine, which had soaring subscription rate since the beginning of Covid: \u201cWe will be saved as an institution by bearing down on quality, quality, quality. Just do the most deeply reported, beautifully written, carefully edited, fact-checked, copyedited, and beautifully designed stories \u2014 and the reader will come. They want to be supportive and they want access. And it turns out to be true. Thank God for it.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou can have smartest paywall\u201d, says Wolmarans, \u201cbut if you don\u2019t have quality to back it up, you\u2019re nowhere\u201d.<\/p>\n