Budapest Post

Cum Deo pro Patria et Libertate
Budapest, Europe and world news

12 ways digital news organizations can generate revenue

12 ways digital news organizations can generate revenue

So much innovation is occurring on the revenue side of new digital media that it's time to review, update and aggregate.Let’s start with the basics.

1. Create community
An audience is just a group of observers. A community shares values and a deep interest in a topic or geographic area. It often has a bias toward action. That is where value comes in.

As Michael Skoler suggested a couple of years ago in Nieman Reports, when paywall thinking gives way to membership thinking, the business model becomes community rather than audience.

2. Memberships, not paywalls
Texas Tribune, a digital news organization focused on government and education, embodies this way of thinking. It offers six levels of membership and a sliding scale of benefits, from US$10 to US$500 a year.

Think about that. By offering not just a product but access, privileges and opportunities to mix with the community, Texas Tribune is able to charge far more for a membership than it might get from a subscription.

3. Sponsorships, not ads
Texas Tribune offers three sponsorship levels that run from US$1,000 to US$5,000 a year. Sponsorship benefits include more than just the opportunity to put a message on the website. They include a more intimate relationship with the brand at events.

Leo Prieto, the co-founder of BetaZeta in Chile, which has a monthly audience of 10 million users, is turning away from traditional advertising toward sponsorships, which now make up 40 percent of its revenues.

4. Content marketing, editorial services
BetaZeta, mentioned above, is generating about 10 percent of its revenue from content marketing, which means creating editorial content for brands to use on their own sites. It is like the service of an advertising or public relations agency.

5. Consulting services
On of the most innovative media in this area is Mi Voz (My Voice) of Chile, a chain of 16 local news websites with dozens of clients. It generates more than US$2 million a year and is driven by content generated from some 10,000 citizen reporters.

6. Direct sale of products
Many web publishers are realizing that they can offer products themselves rather than just being an advertising vehicle.

El Faro, an investigative journalism website in El Salvador, has produced several books based on its investigations, and it offers them for sale on its website, along with other books, music and artistic products.

Online payment services such as PayPal, Google Wallet and Amazon can simplify the process of accepting payment by credit card.

7. Events
Even though the community you build is online, its members still crave face-to-face contact. People want to connect and meet others who share the same interests and values. Sponsors who share those values and want to connect with that community are willing to pay for the right to be visible at such events.

There are at least four ways to make money from events:

-Sponsorships
-Tickets
-Booths (display)
-Product sales (publications, subscriptions, branded merchandise)

8. Repackage and sell data
Internet users are willing to pay a premium for data that is organized for them in a convenient format and is searchable.

Texas Tribune has been an innovator in data. It generates most of its traffic not from its investigative journalism but from its databases of such things as state employee salaries, public education spending, water use, prison inmates and others.

9. Foundations and NGOs
Many media startups are getting the majority of their revenue from grants, which is not a sustainable position. If a major funder suffers a serious devaluation of its assets or decides to change direction, the media organization that has not diversified could be in big trouble.

10. Emerging entrepreneurs
We know about the US$250 million Amazon founder Jeff Bezos spent to buy The Washington Post. And we heard about eBay founder Pierre Omidyar's US$50 million launch of First Look Media.

But below that level of giving, there is also a lot of money looking for ways to replace the loss of investigative journalism in regional and local news sites.

11. Real-time ads
Mashable reported recently on How news organizations are generating revenue from social media, including real-time ads. Real-time ad widgets allow an advertiser to update the information on a website from their Twitter or email accounts to promote specials and coupons.

12. Video
Chumel Torres is a video-blogger whose satirical take on politics and journalism has managed to attract 483,000 subscribers to his YouTube channel in just one year.

He has made a business out of the sponsors he attracts to his weekly program, El Pulso de la República. YouTube has several ways for its video partners to generate money, described here.

This post is an abridged version of a post that originally appeared on James Breiner's blog News Entrepreneurs and is republished on IJNet with permission.

AI Disclaimer: An advanced artificial intelligence (AI) system generated the content of this page on its own. This innovative technology conducts extensive research from a variety of reliable sources, performs rigorous fact-checking and verification, cleans up and balances biased or manipulated content, and presents a minimal factual summary that is just enough yet essential for you to function as an informed and educated citizen. Please keep in mind, however, that this system is an evolving technology, and as a result, the article may contain accidental inaccuracies or errors. We urge you to help us improve our site by reporting any inaccuracies you find using the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of this page. Your helpful feedback helps us improve our system and deliver more precise content. When you find an article of interest here, please look for the full and extensive coverage of this topic in traditional news sources, as they are written by professional journalists that we try to support, not replace. We appreciate your understanding and assistance.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Intel Reports Revenue Beats but Sees 81% Rise in Losses
Politics is a good business: Barack Obama’s Reported Net Worth Growth, 1990–2025
UN's Top Court Declares Environmental Protection a Legal Obligation Under International Law
"Crazy Thing": OpenAI's Sam Altman Warns Of AI Voice Fraud Crisis In Banking
The Podcaster Who Accidentally Revealed He Earns Over $10 Million a Year
UK Government Considers Dropping Demand for Apple Encryption Backdoor
Japanese Man Discovers Family Connection Through DNA Testing After Decades of Separation
Russia Signals Openness to Ukraine Peace Talks Amid Escalating Drone Warfare
Switzerland Implements Ban on Mammography Screening
Pogacar Extends Dominance with Stage Fifteen Triumph at Tour de France
President Trump Diagnosed with Chronic Venous Insufficiency After Leg Swelling
CEO Resigns Amid Controversy Over Relationship with HR Executive
NVIDIA Achieves $4 Trillion Valuation Amid AI Demand
Tulsi Gabbard Unveils Evidence Alleging Political Manipulation of Intelligence During Trump Administration
Centrist Criticism of von der Leyen Resurfaces as she Survives EU Confidence Vote
Trump Announces Coca-Cola to Shift to Cane Sugar in U.S. Production
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
Zelensky Reshuffles Cabinet to Win Support at Home and in Washington
"Can You Hit Moscow?" Trump Asked Zelensky To Make Putin "Feel The Pain"
Church of England Removes 1991 Sexuality Guidelines from Clergy Selection
Superman Franchise Achieves Success with Latest Release
Hungary's Viktor Orban Rejects Agreements on Illegal Migration
Air India Pilot’s Mental Health Records Under Scrutiny
Jamie Dimon Warns Europe Is Losing Global Competitiveness and Flags Market Complacency
Moonshot AI Unveils Kimi K2: A New Open-Source AI Model
Martha Wells Says Humanity Still Far from True Artificial Intelligence
Nvidia Becomes World’s First Four‑Trillion‑Dollar Company Amid AI Boom
EU Delays Retaliatory Tariffs Amid New U.S. Threats on Imports
Trump Proposes Supplying Arms to Ukraine Through NATO Allies
US Opens First Rare Earth Mine in Over 70 Years in Wyoming
Bitcoin Reaches New Milestone of $116,000
Severe Heatwave Claims 2,300 Lives Across Europe
Declining Beer Consumption Signals Cultural Shift in Germany
Emails Leaked: How Passenger Luggage Became a Side Income for Airport Workers
Polish MEP: “Dear Leftists - China is laughing at you, Russia is laughing, India is laughing”
Western Europe Records Hottest June on Record
BRICS Expands Membership with Indonesia and Ten New Partner Countries
Elon Musk Founds a Party Following a Poll on X: "You Wanted It – You Got It!"
China’s Central Bank Consults European Peers on Low-Rate Strategies
France Requests Airlines to Cut Flights at Paris Airports Amid Planned Air Traffic Controller Strike
Poland Implements Border Checks Amid Growing Migration Tensions
Emirates Airline Expands Market Share with New $20 Million Campaign
Amazon Reaches Milestone with Deployment of One Millionth Robot
Yulia Putintseva Calls for Spectator Ejection at Wimbledon Over Safety Concerns
House Oversight Committee Subpoenas Former Jill Biden Aide Amid Investigation into Alleged Concealment of President Biden's Cognitive Health
Amazon Reaches Major Automation Milestone with Over One Million Robots
Extreme Heat Wave Sweeps Across Europe, Hitting Record Temperatures
Meta Announces Formation of Ambitious AI Unit, Meta Superintelligence Labs
Robots Compete in Football Tournament in China Amid Injuries
China Unveils Miniature Insect-Like Surveillance Drone
×