Business models

Beyond subscriptions and advertising

This text is part of a comprehensive look at the Brazilian news environment.

As discussed earlier, new media outlets rarely rely on only one revenue stream. However, as Sirkkunen and Coke note, it is not exactly a novelty. “Journalism has never been a viable product as such. It has always needed some other source of revenue than just the money collected directly from the readers,” state the authors, referring to the traditional combination of subscription and advertising.

Even before the Internet disrupted the industry, however, media organizations tried to find other methods to boost their cash flows. One strategy often employed by periodicals in Brazil is the “proof of purchase”. This approach, particularly common with popular newspapers, involves subsidizing the sale of products via stamps included with the publication. Usually, the newspaper would sell a product at a low price in exchange for a predetermined number of stamps printed during a period. Among the items sold are audio bibles, toolboxes, watches, and pan kits, just to name a few.

The customer, aiming to purchase the product at a discount price, will buy the newspaper much more frequently. Thus, the newspaper guarantees inflated sales for a period of time. Sometimes, even the sale of the product assures some profit for the media organization.

Now, with digital journalism, a range of new sources of finance has become possible. The big challenge for 21st century media has been finding the most adequate balance for every business. So far, it seems that there is no single and right answer to this issue, but it is possible to identify some trends.

The main earnings of a startup, for instance, tend to come either from advertising or some sort of paid content or a combination of both, emulating the traditional formula of subscriptions and advertising. Nonprofits are more likely to rely on donations — and there are different ways in which it can be done. Niche market publications are firming good deals with companies by producing specialized reports, as well as sharing their specific knowledge in all sorts of consultancy services and trainings. “Smartly combining revenue streams is also a way of innovating in journalism,” state Sirkkunen and Cook.

Here are the revenue streams used by each case analyzed in this research.

Advertising

• Display: Catraca Livre and Papo de Homem
• Native: Catraca Livre and Papo de Homem
• Others (Google and related ads): Catraca Livre

Paid Content

• Paywall: JOTA
• Specialized report: JOTA, Mural, Ponte
• Content on demand: Catraca Livre, Papo de Homem, JOTA, J++
• Syndication: J++, Mural
• Micropayment: Brio
• Subscription: Brio

Donations

• Fundings and Grants: Escola de Dados, InfoAmazonia, Ponte, Mural
• Sponsorship: Catraca Livre
• Philanthropy: Porvir
• Crowdfunding: Mural
• Individual: Ponte

Services

• Training: Escola de Dados, InfoAmazonia, J++
• Events/lectures: Papo de Homem, Mural, Ponte
• Technology: InfoAmazonia, J++
• E-commerce: Catraca Livre