The Guardian isn’t your typical newspaper: As part of a trust, it has $1 billion in the bank. But it still needs to be a business.
Janine Gibson, editor-in-chief of theguardian.com, spoke at the Digiday Publishing Summit in Vail, Colo., on the need to find workable business models to support the kind of serious journalism like The Guardian’s breakthrough series of articles based on Edward Snowden’s revelation of the National Security Agency’s surveillance activities.
“We lose a lot of money because the kind of journalism we do is expensive,” Gibson said. “We need to lose less money otherwise we’ll burn through that $1 billion.”
That means the entire news team needs to appreciate the commercial side of the business. In fact, there’s little choice these days, Gibson said.
“Nobody who works for the Guardian us gets to be snitty or sniffy about how we’re paid for and what we do,” she said.
Some have christened this a “golden age of journalism” as new models emerge. Gibson has seen this firsthand, as Pierre Omidyar lured away The Guardian’s Glenn Greenwald to launch The Intercept. The Guardian also lost two data-savvy journalists to FiveThirtyEight, the new publication Nate Silver is building under the aegis of ESPN and ABC News. The result of the tumult in the news business is that talent will become more expensive, Gibson predicted.
“A billionaire can come in and pluck out any journalist and build a brand around them,” she said. “It will be a while before we know if that’s sustainable or effective.”
Watch a three-minute clip of Gibson’s talk below:
-
Newsletter publishers say they continue to see uptick in revenue despite advertising slowdown
At a time when larger media companies are feeling the pressure of the economic downturn and advertising slowdown, newsletter businesses continue to be in a period of revenue growth.
-
TikTok’s CEO faces bipartisan skepticism in first Congressional hearing on security concerns
The hearing comes amid calls to remove TikTok from government devices and in some cases even ban it entirely.
-
Media Briefing: What to expect at the Digiday Publishing Summit
As DPS draws nearer, top pain points for publishers are coming to light.
-
SponsoredHow advertisers are leveraging omnichannel attribution and measurement to power CTV
Sponsored by MNTN Connected TV advertising has joined and expanded the larger ecosystem of campaigns that advertisers deploy. As such, omnichannel marketing strategies now encompass television and mobile devices, tablets and other screens such as out-of-home. And as customers engage across these different touchpoints, brands are seeking and moving their measurement and analytics efforts to […]
-
New app launches through Apple hoping to win with ‘zero-party data’ when others haven’t
Caden's new app lets users connect data from their Uber, Amazon, Netflix and other accounts in exchange for money. Will it take off?
-
‘The next level for us’: The New York Times eyes better retention for games in subscription drive
The games division is focusing on finding new ways to mine the inherent competitive nature of games like encouraging people to play multiple games in a single session or through new achievements and rewards for progression.
