New research suggests that newspaper publishers with successful metered pay model strategies do better with higher “stop rates” — meaning they don't let readers view too many articles before they hit the paywall. A report by the Shorenstein Center and Lenfest Institute found that paywalls have become increasingly common; 76% of the organizations they studied had one in place by 2019. Paywalls have also become tighter over time. The researchers noted: “Among the more than 500 news organizations analyzed, the fiftieth percentile of publishers stops only 1.8% of their readership with a paywall or meter. Publishers with “sustainable” digital business report stop rates between the 80th and 90th percentiles of all publishers studied (at or above 4.2%of all readers).”
Source: NiemanLab
Looking for a new podcast to binge-listen to? Bellingcat’s first foray into the medium is now five episodes deep, and it’s already received strong reviews from the Guardian and the Financial Times. The season centers on the story of Malaysia Airlines MH17, which was shot down in eastern Ukraine in 2014. Narrated by Eliot Higgins, the founder of the investigative website (which is a GIJN member organization), the podcast features the voices of dozens of journalists and analysts, including eyewitnesses and, of course, Bellingcat’s open-source investigators. Fiona Sturges of the Financial Times writes: “It’s a fascinating series, not just in the story it tells but in the way it reveals its methods. Extraordinary in detail, tenacity, and execution, you can practically smell the sweat that’s gone into making it.”
Source: Financial Times
A new round of funding is now open for the IWMF’s Howard G. Buffett Fund for Women Journalists. Women-identifying journalists from anywhere in the world can apply until September 5, 2019. (Teams of journalists that include at least 50% women can also apply.) The fund, which opens for applications twice a year, gives grantees support to “expose under-reported but critical global issues; undertake ambitious projects that challenge traditional media narratives; develop field-based expertise and strengthen careers; pursue training and leadership opportunities; or launch entrepreneurial news projects or acquire the skill to do so.”
Source: IWMF
Due to unprecedented interest, next month's Global Investigative Journalism Conference in Hamburg has now sold out. We’re sorry we can’t accommodate everyone who wants to come, as we’ve now reached the capacity of our host facilities. There may be cancellations, so we encourage those still interested to get on the waiting list. We’ll have a terrific program ready to release soon, with a record 200 panels and workshops, along with 275 speakers from 50 countries. You can follow the action at #GIJC19.
Source: GIJN
The long-awaited deal has finally been announced: Two of the United States’ biggest media companies, Gannett and New Media Investment Group (which includes operating subsidiary GateHouse), are merging. New Media Investment Group will pay $1.4 billion for Gannett, creating the biggest newspaper owner in the country with 263 daily media organizations across 47 states, as well as the national title USA Today. The new entity will operate under the name Gannett. By merging, the companies expect to cut costs by $275 to $300 million annually.
Source: Reuters
A new collaborative platform dedicated to covering public health in Latin America has launched. Salud con Lupa was founded by Fabiola Torres, a Peruvian journalist who also co-founded investigative journalism site Ojo Público, a GIJN member organization. Salud con Lupa’s first series is called “La Salud en la Mesa de Poder” (Health at the Table of Power) and reveals how food and medicine corporations influence governments’ decisions in the region. Journalists from Peru, Chile, Colombia, and Mexico collaborated on the series. "I think a Latin American space was needed to motivate journalists who cover several issues that are health-related from the investigative side, but that need to be deepened, that need to have reporting to go beyond the local case, so that it is seen in a more global context," Torres told the Knight Center.
Source: Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas