A new model for modest, middle-class journalism

There's a viable journalism business model. It's just not on Wall Street.

News imagery.
(Image credit: Illustrated | iStock)

News about the media business is, as usual, pretty wretched. In The Atlantic, Elaine Godfrey tells the story of the lingering death of The Hawk-Eye, a local paper in Burlington, Iowa that was thriving until it was bought up by Gannett (a national newspaper conglomerate) and mercilessly garroted. Meanwhile, The New York Times' Ben Smith killed the much-hyped launch of Ozy Media, a multimedia venture from former MSNBC host Carlos Watson, by exposing it as an apparent fraud scheme.

But it's not all bad. The sports media start-up Defector recently published an annual report showing solid business success. The magic strategy, apparently, is to create and cultivate a loyal subscriber base, sell a few ads here and there, and — stay with me here — don't deliberately destroy the business. It's a simple strategy, but it does require steering clear of Silicon Valley and Wall Street.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us
Ryan Cooper

Ryan Cooper is a national correspondent at TheWeek.com. His work has appeared in the Washington Monthly, The New Republic, and the Washington Post.