Digiday Publishing Summit:

Connect with execs from The New York Times, TIME, Dotdash Meredith and many more

SECURE YOUR SEAT

The Economist’s Paul Rossi: Trump is driving subscriptions

Paul Ross, president of The Economist, joined Digiday editor-in-chief Brian Morrissey for a discussion at Digiday Publishing Summit Japan in February. Some highlights:

For The Economist, the election of Donald Trump has been good for its subscription business. The Economist saw its daily subscription rate go up five times.

“We might not agree with the content coming out of Washington, but it’s a fantastic time to be writing.”

Rossi is a staunch believer in being clear-eyed with it comes to platforms like Facebook. For the Economist, Facebook and Google are a way to drive subscriptions, often through providing samples of their content to a new audience.

“If [platforms] are an extension of your advertising business, then beware because that’s not in my mind a long-term, viable position.”

“These platforms have no moral obligation to support good media. They don’t care.”

Reality check for content studios. Publishers are getting into content studios, but they’re finding that the margins for the agency business are not as good as media.

“What we’re seeing is media businesses are winning business based on the quality of their idea, not on their audience. Ultimately with programmatic and data, you can find audiences wherever they are.”

https://digiday.com/?p=226221

More in Media

Retail media meets publishing: News UK, Future and Ocado tap clean room tech for smarter data targeting

News UK, The Independent, Immediate Media and Future are teaming up with retail media network Ocado to test clean room-powered data matching. 

From sidelines to spotlight: Esports events are putting creators center stage

Esports events’ embrace of content creators reflects advertisers’ changing priorities across both gaming and the wider culture. In the past, marketers viewed esports as one of the best ways to reach gamers. In 2025, brands are instead prioritizing creators in their outreach to audiences across demographics and interest areas, including gaming.

Condé Nast and Hearst strike Amazon AI licensing deals for Rufus

Condé Nast and Hearst have joined the New York Times in signing a licensing deal with Amazon for its AI-powered shopping assistant Rufus.