Publish Less, but Publish Better: Pivoting to Paid in Local News

"Local and regional newspapers have long seen their market power and legacy print operations decline alongside the rise of digital consumption and powerful platforms, leading to reductions in publication frequency, shrinking newsrooms, and closures."

This report examines the ways that eight local and regional newspapers around Europe have adapted their editorial and business strategies to remain sustainable in a digital, mobile, and platform-driven media environment. Published by the Reuters Institute at the University of Oxford, it explores how, in the face of the decline of the legacy print model, the newspapers have invested in new products, processes, and positions to sustain their digital future. It also explores how newsrooms are navigating shifts resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.

The research is based on 20 interviews conducted between December 2019 and March 2020 with managers and editors at eight local and regional newspapers in four countries: Finland, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom (UK). The news organisations included in the report are: Kaleva and Etelä-Suomen Sanomat (Finland), Ouest-France and Nice-Matin (France), Westfalenpost and Main-Post (Germany), and Yorkshire Post and Kent Messenger (UK). These case newspapers represent both independent and group-based ownership models, and the responses of interviewees are seen to reflect both country-specific and universal concerns affecting local media.

The most significant development evident among the local and regional newspapers in this report is the adoption and development of paid-content models. The report, therefore, explores how these local and regional news organisations have embraced the shift to paid content online, including freemium, premium, micropayment, and reader-donation models. This "pivot to paid" (Newman et al. 2019) has resulted in changes to how the news organisations approach their editorial products and distinguish value-added journalism, leading to new newsroom roles and routines, content-creation and management strategies, and tactics for platform distribution.

This report is structured into four sections. First, it examines the models interviewees use to monetise content, from freemium to premium to micropayment and donation models. It then explores the news organisations' strategies for attracting readers and developing "value-added" content. The third section addresses how the newspapers are adapting their newsroom structures and roles to produce these editorial products more efficiently. Finally, it charts outlets' changing relationships with platforms, particularly Facebook, including efforts to scale back platform distribution and leverage the potential of social media for broadening and deepening audience engagement.

The following are some of the key findings as highlighted in the report:

• "In the last two years, all of the case newspapers have shifted from digital strategies emphasising the pursuit of audience reach, monetised through advertising or a blend of paid-content models and auxiliary sources, to a focus on building lasting relationships with readers who will pay for online content in the form of subscriptions, memberships, access to premium articles, donations, or micropayments.
• The news organisations prioritise loyal readers over 'fly-by' visitors driven by platforms such as Google and Facebook. They aim to attract these audiences through producing distinctive, 'value-added' content that reflects both the classic functions of local journalism - coverage of crime, courts, and traffic - and also allows for continued experimentation in long-form, data-driven, and solutions-oriented reporting.
• The newsrooms have embraced a commercial mindset that supports the adoption of new editorial processes and roles to enhance digital revenues, including strategies for scheduled content, quantifying attention and engagement, breaking online news, producing in-depth features, developing new products such as podcasts and newsletters, collaborating between editorial and commercial departments, and sharing content among multiple publisher holdings.
• This emphasis on relationship-building has spurred changes to these organisations' platform strategies, particularly in regard to Facebook, which remains a significant trafficdriver. Just as Facebook as a company has shifted its focus from public posts to groups and private messaging, the newspapers have scaled back their reliance on the platform for achieving algorithmic reach and instead use it strategically to promote subscriptions, connect with targeted groups, and reach new audiences."

"Overall, the editors and managers interviewed for this report are optimistic about the potential of payment-driven strategies for maximising resources, and many are seeing gradual increases in their digital revenues. They also expressed concern about their ability to continue to innovate their digital offerings, retain newsroom talent, and maintain and attract readers who recognise the value of supporting high-quality local news."

An epilogue based on follow-up interviews in August 2020 describes how the outlets are navigating the challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic. Although many of the news organisations initially saw unprecedented online traffic as audiences sought out local information about testing, infection rates, and closures, they also experienced sharp declines in advertising, event revenues, and print deliveries. Some organisations also faced furloughs, layoffs, and closures. Even so, the need for accurate, credible local information persists, and these outlets remain committed to producing and reinforcing the value of local news. Selected examples include:

• The Bishop's Stortford Independent (UK) focused on how the community was responding to the challenges presented by lockdown. As the only Iliffe Media (regional publisher) title whose office remained accessible to the public during this period, the Independent served as a collection and pickup point for the National Health Service (NHS) and other essential workers, with readers donating pens and personal hygiene products. Readers could sponsor a free copy of the paper for three months for elderly and vulnerable people in the community unable to leave home to purchase the paper.
• During the lockdown period in France, Ouest-France offered its digital products for free for two months, leading to an increase in subscribers. The paper also created a new section, "Ouest-France answers you", in which readers could pose questions to journalists in real time, as well as a page for children in the print edition.