Business model for online journalism

Dear change leaders,

Keeping in mind the principle of ‘better late than never” -I hereby submit my thoughts on last week’s trigger questions

1. The best business model for online journalism.

An online journalist works with one of the most fragile mediums. One moment your website can be up and running efficiently and one moment it can be down. And the worst bit, sometimes when it is too popular, the site might not be able to handle all the traffic, too many people trying to access it at once –and the server can be unavailable.
From practical experience, i once posted hot breaking news on our news site and within a very short time; the site was unavailable as too many people were trying to access it at the same time!

I think the guiding principles should:

i) Ensure that the site is available for everyone round the clock – whether there is a big breaking news event or not. This can be done by using simple technology –the simpler the site, the simpler it is to run. This means few malfunctioning elements and the fewer parts compromised in case the site comes under attack from hackers and unauthorized people trying to change the content
ii) Use web servers in different locations – this ensures different hubs connect people in different networks and if one fails, then the site will still be available. It is also important to use a DNS server which can balance requests for web pages evenly over all the servers.
iii) Have national and international editions e.g washingtonpost.com and BBC.co.uk [among others] have dual home page strategy, where there are international and local homepages, catering for the different audience needs
iv) Use Content management systems – these make it easier for people who do not have web design skills to upload content on the site, hence ensuring the site is constantly updated.
v) Develop innovating strategies for generating revenue, if not for profit, at least to enable the site run.

2. The media can make money online
While the amount of revenue earned from the print editions are many times more than those earn from online editions, online news sites still make some money.
This can be done through:
i) Subscriptions - eg. For digital papers, delivered online, that are a replica of the print editions, payment for “premium content” and accessing digital archives for a fee.
ii) Advertisements – having advert banners and billboards on the news sites.
iii) E-newsletters- can also be a source for advertisement through e-mail


3. Some creative ways of generating revenue online
i) Having replica digital editions of print editions
ii) Having premium content which is accessed at a fee
iii) Advertising revenue –e.g per page view
iv) Being a portal for online business, e.g through classifieds

4. Some services that we can develop for online as news organization
i) Developing classified sections to increase revenues
ii) Creatively using new technologies as they develop- e.g SMS news alerts
iii) Using online resources to market print resources
iv) Developing premium content – through quality stories as well as archive services

5. Elements of “old media” business model that we can transfer online
- Everything – such as management styles, journalistic principles, house style among others


6. Who can be involved in developing our online business modeli) Web designers, ii) ISPs (Internet service providers) marketers and entrepreneurs