Three takeaways from Jeff Bezos’s meetings with staff at the Washington Post (2013). Bezos, founder of Amazon, agreed to buy the Washington Post for US$250m. Asked how he would define success, Bezos replied: growth. Continuing to contract by cutting the staff would lead to extinction, he said, “or, at best, irrelevance.” “All businesses need to be young …
Continue reading “‘If your customer base ages with you, you’re Woolworth’s’”
A couple of takeaways from Sim Ahmed’s StopPress wrap on the financial challenges facing New Zealand’s news companies. I really like NBR publisher Todd Scott’s line on paywalls: People are willing to pay for quality content. However, there’s an expectation from the readers that’s very demanding. Companies shouldn’t get involved with paywalls if they’re not …
Continue reading “Demanding readers require you to deliver more under a paywall”
Some food for thought via Nieman Lab about what kind of content creates the most value for news publishers online: “A study released today provides a hopeful counterpoint… For publishers, hard-news-focused, public-interest-oriented reporting might actually be more valuable than celebrity gossip and similarly LiLotastic fare. And not just in a good-for-democracy sense, but in a …
Continue reading “What pays more – fluff or public interest? (2010)”
