Tuesday 2nd March: Young people are prepared to pay...when they can afford it

Good Morning! Today's Media Roundup is brought to you by Esther.

WAN-IFRA's Elizabeth Benítez asked participants between 18-34 years old from Europe, the United States and Mexico about their digital news preferences and how much they would theoretically pay for a subscription.

One in four say they are willing to pay for a subscription to a digital news product, and nearly half said they would consider paying for it when their income level increased. That's a key point which often gets left out in the doom-and-gloom reporting about the state of news consumption in the under-35's; it's not that they'd never pay for news or magazines, but more that they don't yet have the disposable income to be able to put towards it. This is a generation which has had its love of avocados blamed for not being able to afford housing, after all.

Also worth noting is the price they would be willing to pay: €6 a month, which is 50% less than the average news subscription price across the surveyed countries. Cost is a perception which is unlikely to change regardless of their income, as it is directly pitched against the monthly price of Netflix and Spotify. The cost of news will have to be weighed against unlimited films and music...

With cookies on the way out, 68% of publishers say they're confident contextual targeting is a good substitute. But 65% of marketers don't think it's an adequate replacement by itself. With the timer ticking down to Chrome's phasing out of third-party cookies next spring (allegedly), publishers still have some convincing to do.

Publishers saw audiences flocking to pandemic coverage and are creating coronavirus-focused podcasts to capture and monetize new audiences. Given the quality of entries to our Best Coronavirus Podcast category at this year's Publisher Podcast Awards, this doesn't surprise us at all.

Samir Husni talks to TIME CEO and Editor in Chief Edward Felsenthal about how the pandemic impacted the publication, the role of the print magazine, and what keeps him up at night. He also touches on how the word 'legacy' is seeing a resurgence in the media industry with the rise of misinformation: "We have 100 years of trust that nobody can replicate."

This week's podcast:

Hannah Taylor, editor and founder for The Delicate Rebellion, tells us about her print magazine showcasing the work of independent female creatives, the community that has grown out of the magazine and her new online shop. She tells us how crappy teachers led her eventually to start her own magazine to encourage women to follow their creative passions.

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