Washington Post Managing Editor Explains Why Focusing On Direct Revenue From Consumers Is Short-Sighted
from the free-is-expensive,-but-it-can-pay-off dept
From the title of this article in Forbes, by Raju Narisetti, the managing editor of the Washington Post, you might think it was going to be another rant against "free" online and talk up the wonders of paywalls. After all, the article is called "Why Free is Very Expensive." But, the article actually is much more nuanced, and effectively explains why folks at The Washington Post think that a paywall doesn't really make much sense:
Here is why revenue from readers is unlikely to be our salvation.
-- A metered model makes your business susceptible to the will of a few readers--those who consume the most articles/pages. Often, less than 5% of these kinds of visitors account for nearly 50% of your page views. And they have very little barriers to exit.
-- Aggregators, like Huffington Post, will still find ways to deliver your content for free and often with more engaging technologies since they don't have to invest much in content creation.
-- The infrastructure for payment systems, data security, customer service, reader acquisition and retention for digital subscriptions costs a bundle to build and run, yet your consumer price points need to be low, making the return on investment a clear challenge.
-- Our Web sites were to be trusted safe havens protecting, informing and entertaining you amid a deluge of digital content. And when you came to us, we would make money off you. But that was before your friends became your trusted sources. There are 600 million of you on Facebook and we know we need to be there too with our content. We haven't even begun to fathom that monetization challenge. So, we could up end an expensive drawbridge around Web sites that are already losing their value?
-- Scrolling on Web sites has always been a poor experience for consuming news. Now, just as new devices and digital experiences--none invented by major news brands--create richer engagement outside our sites, we are talking about charging readers for sub-optimal Web site consumption.
He does point out, as everyone agrees, that it is costly to run a major modern news operation, and that the digital business models for large publications like the one he works for haven't kept pace. But, thankfully, unlike some of his competitors, he wants to look forward and not backwards. He's looking at the ways large successful internet companies are making more and more money by increasing convenience and building more value for users:
I, for one, think that the golden age of targeted digital advertising is yet to come. Do we really want to trade that larger opportunity for the much smaller and unreliable pursuit of consumer dollars? I also wonder if we aren't better off redeploying our newsroom resources to create new revenue streams and more engaging digital platforms than trying to make the traditional Web experience better and charge for it....
Free is indeed very expensive. But, what the prolonged and knee-jerk debate about free vs. paid inside our news organizations shows is that we still have what led us here in the first place: An imagination deficit. Rather than apply an �all or nothing' approach focused, perhaps wrongly, on just our Web sites, we should be willing to make creative bets on our business model. We continue to make what is being consumed--in large quantities. It is time we figured out how to make it easier, more engaging and useful. Despite their soaring valuations, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter don't create much, if anything at all, by way of original content. And, for that matter, neither do Google or YouTube. They simply make it easy, useful and engaging to their audiences. These are incredibly disruptive times and one thing is clear to me: There isn't time or room for incrementalism at major news organizations.
It's nice to finally see someone at a major publication recognize this point that many of us have been making for a while. For all the talk of paywalls, there's been very little done to actually increase the value of the online experience for users at these newspaper sites. There's been very little effort to build and support community. It's nice to see that at least one major paper is hopefully moving in that direction.
20 Comments | Leave a Comment..
Also in Dr. Saturday
Browse
Mandate for Change: Michigan hails Brady Hoke, its halcyon hope
Browse
Hook’em: Longhorn-themed bar in Pakistan shows Texas’ global appeal
Browse
Headlinin’: Janoris Jenkins joins Terry Bowden’s camp for SEC refugees
Browse
Meme Watch: Vegas anoints Auburn as underdog… in almost every game
Browse
Kansas receivers tackle camerman and the school in new web series
Browse
Notre Dame, Nebraska break tradition with new glove designs
Browse
How John Blake became the NCAA’s latest, greatest scofflaw
Browse
Careful what you tweet Terps, Maryland compliance is watching
Browse
Headlinin’: Ohio State prez apologizes to actual Little Sisters of the Poor
Browse
Video: Scott Van Pelt helps Les Miles embarrass his children on the court
Browse
Agents, rogue coaches, academic fraud: North Carolina accused of perfect storm of NCAA death
Browse
Desmond Howard pontificates on Tressel, memorabilia and Reggie Bush
Browse
$12K for Tebow statue
Browse
Stroll earns JoePa an NCAA violation
Browse
Testimony: O’Leary cast out trainers, water, berated struggling UCF player before fatal ’08 collapse
Browse
Ohio agency clears Buckeye car deals – most of them, anyway
Browse
Headlinin’: Louisville corner hits cop car, blows twice legal limit
Browse
Pricey Ducks player list
Browse
QB Focus: Nathan Scheelhaase, Illinois’ new flight plan
Browse
BCS title ring stolen
Browse
Department of Justice will meet with the BCS on Tuesday
Browse
Saggy-pants scofflaw gives his side of story
Browse
Nev. star's cloudy future
Browse
Good things come in threes: Auburn’s championship bling has arrived
Browse
Michigan ‘interested’ in Wolverine mascot, if Wolverine fans will tolerate it
Browse
Louisiana Tech AD implies Tulane owes Tech for Katrina help
Browse
NCAA: North Dakota has little choice but to change ‘Fighting Sioux’ nickname
Browse
Ohio State hypocrisy forces exploration where the NCAA fears to tread
Surface Encounters rock tops [url=http://detroit.ebayclassifieds.com/other/macomb/surface-encounters-now-has-two-locations-in-michigan/?ad=1024602]Surface Encounters chuck russo[/url] http://detroit.ebayclassifieds.com/other/macomb/surface-encounters-now-has-two-locations-in-michigan/?ad=1024602 - click here
Surface Encounters complaints [url=http://community2.myfoxmemphis.com/service/searchEverything.kickAction?keywords=%22surface+encounters%22&as=80520]Surface Encounters[/url] http://community2.myfoxmemphis.com/service/searchEverything.kickAction?keywords=%22surface+encounters%22&as=80520 - Surface Encounters chuck russo
Surface Encounters reviews [url=http://www.ideamarketers.com/?Surface_Encounters_Ohio,_LLC_Celebrates_100_Years_of_Experience_with_Columbus_S&articleid=880865]Surface Encounters reviews[/url] http://www.ideamarketers.com/?Surface_Encounters_Ohio,_LLC_Celebrates_100_Years_of_Experience_with_Columbus_S&articleid=880865 - click here
Surface Encounters reviews [url=http://surfaceencounters.tumblr.com/]Surface Encounters[/url] http://surfaceencounters.tumblr.com/ - click here
Surface Encounters chuck russo [url=http://community.myfox8.com/_Surface-Encounters-Macomb-MI/blog/1698404/96365.html]Surface Encounters chuck russo[/url] http://community.myfox8.com/_Surface-Encounters-Macomb-MI/blog/1698404/96365.html - Surface Encounters reviews
No comments:
Post a Comment