2023-12-06 18:17:52
” Not to sell. » The slogan of the advertising campaign launched by The Guardian two months ago marked the entry of the British daily newspaper into a new era: that of economic serenity. A remarkable turnaround for this newspaper, which was recently on the verge of financial asphyxiation. Although backed by an investment fund created in 1936 to ensure its sustainability and valued at 1.4 billion euros, it revealed losses of 79 million euros in 2016.
“The newspaper had maintained the course of free access to all of its articles on the Internet, while all newspapers began to make their online content paid for,” says Charlie Beckett, former journalist and professor at the London School of Economics. “He made huge investments in London, moved into magnificent premises in New York, hired very well-paid journalists. Except that the financial income linked to the website has been slow. But it made them digital pioneers. »
An austerity cure
Five years later, The Guardian has recovered: it announces profits of 13.5 million euros, the site welcomes 148 million unique visitors each month, and its model now appears solid. This new situation ensures its financial independence, at a time when many big names in the world press have had to rely on billionaires to survive.
This success lies largely in the choices of its editor-in-chief, Katharine Viner. Appointed in March 2015, she made budget cuts. “The newspaper has reduced its ambitions in the United States, got rid of many employees, those who remain are paid more poorly,” lists Charlie Beckett. But she persisted in her predecessor Alan Rusbridger’s desire to keep articles free online. In return, the management ardently appeals to its readers for help. These are now called contributors or supporters.
The objective is clear: to give them the impression that the newspaper is their property. Requests for funds are so recurring when reading online that many readers succumb to them. It must be said that the subscription page of Guardian offers payments from £3 (€3.50) per month or £20 per year (€23).
More than a million donors
On December 14, 2021, the newspaper exceeded the one million supporter mark. This is also the moment when digital contributions and subscriptions exceed subscriptions and sales of the paper newspaper for the first time (105,134 average daily sales in July 2021). “Just over half of the million digital supporters, which does not include single contributions, come from outside the UK,” says the newspaper. Including advertising revenue, the Web “now accounts for 70% of total revenue”he specifies.
In this favorable context, Katharine Viner says “determined to maintain this economic model”. His advantages ? “It provides us with financial income and means that everyone can read The Guardianeven when penniless, she explains to The cross. This motivation plays a major role in management strategy.
This business model is probably not easily replicable because it relies on a specific audience. “The readers of Guardianand they confirmed this to Alan Rusbridger during an open day, consider themselves “pious liberals”, “progressives” who think they are right, analyse Charlie Beckett. They are therefore ready to pay to spread the good word. The Guardian is therefore not only a means of obtaining the news of the day, it is also a vehicle for changing the world. »
According to his work, “the long investigations that the newspaper prides itself on are very little read. But for its readers, the most important thing is that they appear in their newspaper.”
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