Good morning! Today's Media Roundup is brought to you by Chris.

Sifted paywall launch: FT-backed site reports promising start — www.pressgazette.co.uk

How do you know the time is right to launch a paywall? It's a decision that relies on many confounding factors, not least of which is that the propensity to pay is still relatively low. But Sifted - the Financial Times-based site aimed at economically-minded audiences round Europe - feels that two years is the right time. This write-up from Charlotte Tobin at Press Gazette examines why.

Its co-founder John Thornhill believes the title had reached a critical mass of audience and interest: "We were getting quite good commercial revenues from traditional media models but.. very much like the FT, which concluded years ago now that this is quite a volatile source of income [you should] develop subscription revenue. It’s more predictable, it’s more stable, you can have a deeper attachment with your readers."

The site's ambitions are relatively modest, with Thornhill mentioning it's targeting a few thousand subscribers by the end of the year. But as we've advocated for before, a small but loyal set of regular subscribers gives you a solid base from which to build out upon other revenue strands. Keep an eye on this one.

Microsoft joins forces with European news publishers (Financial Times link) — www.ft.com

Microsoft has entered the fray as European publishers seek to emulate the Australian approach to making the Duopoly pay directly for news content. For our take on why that's a bad and disingenuous approach to securing the future of journalism, the latest podcast episode can be found below.

Black On White TV: one or none cannot be our only options — blackonwhitetv.blogspot.com

Last week the BBC announced a management restructure that left it with an all-white board. In this excellent post, Marcus Ryder argues that we shouldn't be arguing for a return to the status quo, but a more comprehensive overhaul of that system that leads to better, more accurate representation of British society as a whole.

Sunak warned of 'imminent' newspaper closures without rates relief — www.holdthefrontpage.co.uk

The past year has been existentially challenging for many of the local and regional titles. Now the News Media Association has called for the Chancellor to confirm extended rates relief for newspapers, easing the pandemic pressure many are still feeling.

This week's podcast:

The Bureau Local director Megan Lucero on the collaborative future of news — voices.media

This week Megan Lucero, director of the Bureau Local at the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, provides us with a look at the present and future of local journalism. From the trials of finding resources to the project mentality behind some powerful stories, Lucero provides a hopeful and achievable look at how regional media is changing.

Buy The Media Voices Team a coffee — ko-fi.com

Media Voices is far from our full-time gig, despite the amount of time we spend on it per week. So if you can find it in your heart (and wallet) to kick us a couple of quid, that'll really help with our energy levels. We're delighted every time we get that notification!