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The Times (UK) and The Sunday Times aim to grow their digital subscription business with new explorations of live journalism and more visual coverage. Teams start by reshaping the way they order stories.
So says Edward Roussel, head of digital strategy and development, who joined the press agency in May. The company announced internally earlier this week, led by Roussel, a new process for ordering articles that will prioritize visual and digital journalism.
“On the contrary, we want to make fewer stories and tell them better,” said Roussel in a video interview from London, who returned to the UK for the job after serving as innovation director for the Wall Street Journal.
In total, the newsroom currently produces around 150 articles per day and attracts around 14 million views per month, Roussel said. “I don’t know what the correct number is [of stories per day] is, but I know for a brand like ours, it’s about being deeply thoughtful about every piece of content we post, ”he added.
The Times and The Sunday Times’ – like other publishers – are in a race for public attention and are changing the types of coverage they offer to inspire readers to change their viewing habits. Vice media group is another media company move out of the playbook of social media channels to prioritize posting fewer words in favor of vertical video. The direction there now praises the publication more “Stories” than traditional article types.
In an email to staff on Tuesday, John Witherow, editor of The Times, described the changes, including the creation of a digital staff hub dedicated to visual journalism (more graphics and videos) as well as ” audience strengthening (fine tuning of referencing, growing on social networks).
The changes will expand the organization to at least a dozen roles. While the move separates the print and digital teams into two separate offices, it will not result in any layoffs. “This is not an exercise in economy, quite the contrary. We are increasing our spending on our journalism, ”Roussel said.
The new strategy is designed to give the newsroom “the sophistication to anticipate how a story can be represented on the Internet,” Roussel said. Editors will think about the most appropriate format for the story itself, which means taking a step back and assessing how they want to tell the story as much as what the story actually is.
Gone are the days when you could just create a bundle of content, set up a paywall, wait for people to come in. You have to work really hard to get people’s attention.
Edward Roussel, Head of Digital Strategy and Development
In reality, it might look like a Met coverage that prioritizes real-time updates of what everyone is wearing on the social channels readers occupy.
“The more we can embed our news in places where people pass their human attention, the better the chance we have of capturing people’s attention. And we just have to recognize it. Gone are the days when you could just create a bundle of content, set up a pay wall, wait for people to come in, ”Roussel said. “You have to work really hard to get people’s attention.”
Executives hope the changes will help accelerate a larger audience shift. Already, the organization has seen a change: Self-identifying women now represent 52% of new digital subscribers and 40% say they are under 30. These numbers are each 10 percentage points higher than pre-pandemic levels.
As Roussel works with management to determine an exact target for digital submarines, he declined to give the number. Instead, Witherow presented staff members with the exact current picture: 367,000 digital-only subscribers, “double the amount of print-only.”
“In order to reach our full potential, by attracting a larger subscriber base, we need to elevate our digital game several additional levels,” Witherow wrote.
While News UK’s changes are meant to grow the subscription business and are not necessarily an outright offer of advertising dollars – genuine content speaks to readers – and advertisers, said Patrick McKenna, CEO of DMi Partners.
“Engaging authentic content for publication is what captures attention in today’s digital ecosystem…” he said. “Publications are increasingly establishing partnership relationships with advertisers, who are able to deliver authentic, value-added content that engages the publication’s audience. “
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