Tuesday 14th September: How El Diario caters for readers who can't afford to pay

September 14, 2021

Happy Tuesday! Woo boy, you all loved this week's episode featuring Terri White! Today's newsletter is brought to you by Chris.

I love this one. Too often over the past few years I've heard people justify hard paywalls with statements like 'good journalism costs money to produce'. That's true - but it should be the start of the conversation, not the end. What, for instance, about the people who can't afford to pay for news? Do they not deserve to be informed about the world in which they live? And where do they then turn for news except the disinformation-rife ecosystems elsewhere online?

In Spain El Diario is taking an approach that prioritises that cohort: "the brand caters to those who cannot afford to pay for membership by offering reduced pricing and zero fee options. 'Our members don’t pay us to read the news; they pay us to support our journalism to build a better and more democratic society,' said Esther Alonso, El Diario’s Marketing and Membership Programme Director."

The entire write-up is worth your time, for insight into how that zero-fee scheme works. We need more of this. As much as it's true that journalism doesn't exist without financial support from readers, it's also true that there's no point in it if it doesn't help the public.

My latest for The Drum takes a look at some of the likely reasons why C4 reportedly splurged a huge amount on a deal with Amazon to air the US Open final. I also take a little look at why Amazon invested so heavily in live sport to begin with.

Published only a few short hours before Neil's humiliated exit from the channel he helped found, The Times published a look at the channel's likely future. Only the most venal of the media commentators didn't predict this coming: when you have the tiger of populism by the tail you can't very well let go without it biting you - hard.

This fascinating look at the challenges of being a smaller publisher in the US is replete with some of the technical challenges of going digital. From small teams of tech specialists who take all the newsrooms' expertise if they leave to chugging internet connections, there's a lot that needs to happen before consumers can even pay for digital news at some outlets.

This week's podcast:

In this special episode of Media Voices, former Editor in Chief of EMPIRE Terri White takes us through the changes she made during her time at the magazine. She also expounds her reasons for resigning from EMPIRE – a role that she still today calls the best job in the world – and the realities of juggling family life with a top job in media.

GOOD NEWS! We're starting to pull together some budget to commission writers to help us build out the opinion and analysis section on the Media Voices website. We're looking to pay about £120 for 1,000 words so if you've got any brilliant media or publishing stories to tell, just reply to this email with your pitch.