How News Organizations Are Using Events as An Alternate Revenue Stream
By Sandy Mui
While news organizations are suffering from countless setbacks, one potential revenue stream for newsrooms is on the rise: events.
Annaliese Griffin, then-editor-in-chief at Brooklyn Based, writes in “Revenue Opportunities: Events” that events made up about a third of Brooklyn Based’s revenue at the time.
Griffin details many types of events that news organizations can hold — meet-ups, cultural events and partnerships. She writes that meet-ups “are probably the easiest events to produce,” citing Brooklyn Based’s Cocktail Club as an example. Griffin emphasizes that for meet-ups, it’s important that news organizations tailor these gatherings to the audience; for instance, events for younger audiences might take place at a bar, while a more mature audience might like a coffee hour or a potluck.
Although Griffin doesn’t delve into meet-ups as public forums, that’s one way to envision them.
In Chapter 3 of Media Essentials: A Brief Introduction, Richard Campbell, Christopher R. Martin, Bettina Fabos and Shawn Harmsen mention how news organizations can hold events to help contribute to a “deliberative democracy” — “in which citizen groups, local government, and the news media work together more actively to shape social, economic, and political agendas.” News organizations can profit off these public forums — perhaps “panel-like” events — by charging attendees a small fee. (The news organizations below have had success with these types of events.)
The Texas Tribune is one well-recognized news organization that is effectively profiting off events. According to The Texas Tribune’s strategic plan, as of June 2018, events made up 18 percent of its $56 million revenue that was generated in less than nine years. Many of its events in March and April pertain to education — a couple are free, while “The Future of Public Education” on April 1 ranges between $30 and $40 per ticket. The organization also has its own revenue space, “Studio 919,” which is available for outsiders to reserve for events. (It’s noted in the strategic plan that this “in-house events space and staffing will bring in new revenue through rentals and let [The Texas Tribune] better monetize [its] existing events.”)
The New York Times is another news organization that is putting events to good use. Its website “NYT Conferences” details a variety of events, including conferences, “TimesTalks,” subscriber events and “Get With The Times” (“a live conversation series for college students”). There isn’t much information about the organization’s revenue from events, but the American Press Institute reported in 2015 that The New York Times’ “live events and conference business could bring in $20 million.”
However, it’s clear that through these events, The New York Times is promoting and establishing a brand — which Kevin Loker in “The best strategies for generating revenue through events” mentioned is one advantage of publishers holding events. The New York Times’ subscriber events, for instance, can be bolstered as events that hold weight in exclusivity (for “subscribers only”), and branding events through names (e.g. “TimesTalks” and “Get With The Times”) can also catch on and stimulate interest.
