4 Editorial, commercial getting closer BUSINESS NOVEMBER /DECEMBER 2013 www.worldnewspublishingfocus.org The long-standing “wall” between publishing houses’ editorial activities and their commercial efforts has been increasingly eroded recently, thanks to technological advances and an increasingly competitive media environment. Some observers say it is high time that editorial personnel took an interest in the fi nancial success of their publications instead of habitually absolving themselves of responsibility by claiming “higher interests.” The latest erosive wave broke against the wall in the last year or so, in the form of “sponsored content” – advertising that more or less closely resembles editorial content (although experienced print editors will note that this is not really new; in print, the concept is known as “advertorial”). Publisher after publisher has succumbed to the temptation of additional revenue from ad messages that enable higher audience engagement and can be easily disseminated via social media. The practice has spread from upstart pioneer BuzzFeed (see World News Publishing Focus, May/June 2013, page 4) to such venerable journalistic institutions as The Washington Post and the Associated Press. While sponsored content does not (or at least should not) involve a publisher’s own editorial staffers, the next wave does: motivating editors to boost financial figures through direct action. Consider these developments: W The New Republic, a U.S.-based national public affairs magazine, convinced journalists and editors to sell subscriptions as part of a sales drive earlier this autumn. In fact, it offered a prize of an iPad Mini to the person who sold the most subscriptions. Of course, as Forbes Phillip Crawley, left, publisher and CEO of The Globe and Mail of Canada, and Raju Narisetti, senior vice president and deputy head of strategy for News Corp., USA, both contend that editors must work more closely with commercial staff. staff writer Jeff Bercovici points out, the situation was not unlike crowdfunding, which frequently puts journalists into fund-raising roles. W Similarly, the Daytona Beach News Journal, a 64,000-circulation daily in Florida, offered all newspaper staff, including editors and reporters, bonuses for selling subscriptions – or advertising. Once again, those are not new practices but of course they remain controversial, since they can influence news coverage. Now comes a new twist, made possible by the latest analytics technology: At Canada’s Globe and Mail (a leading national daily, weekday circulation about 285,000), newsroom staff are financially rewarded when the web content they create converts casual visitors to subscribers. The Globe and Mail has had a metered paywall for about a year. It has 100,000 registered digital users, about a third of which are digital-only subscribers. The remainder are print subscribers, who have full access at no extra charge. All video content is outside the paywall. As Publisher and CEO Phillip Crawley described at the SFN Forum “Harnessing Audience Analytics” during the World Publishing Expo, every day there is a meeting of editors, ad salespeople, marketing personnel, subscription salespeople, and IT staff to decide what stories to put behind the paywall. “You can’t leave content to journalists alone,” he explained. Clarifying the incentive program, Crawley said, “Editorial managers, especially section editors, are incentivised to achieve monthly subscription targets, which means creating ‘red’ content….the content that is available only to subscribers to Globe Unlimited, which therefore drives conversion from free to paying customers. “So there are monthly metrics to hit, and an end-ofyear review and reward system for managers who achieve their goals.” Another top media manager advocating closer cooperation between editorial and commercial staff is Raju Narisetti, Senior Vice President and Deputy Head of Strategy for News Corp, USA. Speaking at the opening ses- Section editors at The Globe and Mail are given financial incentives to create content that attracts new subscribers to the newspaper’s website. Taking ‘stock’ of selected media companies Source: Bloomberg Ticker Name Last Update Date Price Market Cap P/E YTD Chg. % 52 Week High 52 Week Low Annual Diluted EPS FXJ AU Fairfax Media Ltd 04/11/13 0.59 968.23 N/A 14.71 0.68 0.38 -0.01 SPH SP Singapore Press Holdings Ltd 04/11/13 4.26 4,056.55 15.59 10.23 4.49 3.78 0.27 MPR MK Media Prima Bhd 04/11/13 2.75 705.06 13.56 17.52 3.15 2.07 0.18 NMG KN Nation Media Group Ltd 04/11/13 314.00 512.08 23.70 70.50 370.00 173.33 13.25 NPN SJ Naspers Ltd 04/11/13 93,400.00 28,429.67 54.24 71.94 98,000.00 52,655.00 15.33 RCS IM RCS MediaGroup SpA 04/11/13 1.59 737.91 N/A -62.68 4.96 1.08 -2.41 PRS SM Promotora de Informaciones SA 04/11/13 0.38 433.91 N/A 62.55 0.53 0.14 -0.27 VOC SM Vocento SA 04/11/13 1.56 194.33 N/A 50.97 1.60 0.79 N/A SCH NO Schibsted ASA 04/11/13 365.00 4,902.77 N/A 54.99 381.00 212.00 1.73 SAA1V FH Sanoma OYJ 04/11/13 6.21 1,010.25 N/A -16.54 8.95 5.28 0.88 SPR GR Axel Springer AG 04/11/13 44.06 4,359.30 18.83 36.47 45.36 30.80 2.41 DMGT LN Daily Mail & General Trust PLC 04/11/13 813.50 3,598.53 15.01 47.64 842.50 443.75 0.65 TNI LN Trinity Mirror PLC 04/11/13 130.50 397.36 40.44 41.08 134.25 56.50 0.09 MEC LN Mecom Group PLC 04/11/13 64.50 92.38 N/A -13.42 98.75 27.00 -0.26 PSON LN Pearson PLC 04/11/13 1,297.00 12,543.58 42.95 9.18 1,373.00 1,090.00 0.41 NYT US New York Times Co/The 04/11/13 13.72 1,517.30 28.00 60.84 14.56 7.72 0.87 NWSA US News Corp 04/11/13 17.76 7,661.49 N/A 17.86 14.39 0.87 GCI US Gannett Co Inc 04/11/13 28.04 4,754.39 12.26 55.69 28.19 16.35 1.79
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