Thread by @erdelyipe

Let me tell you about @444hu, one of Hungary’s last independent outlets, our journey in 2020, and why I think audience revenues can really make a difference for newsrooms like ours, operating in challenging environments. 1/18

April 2020 felt like an endless string of emergency meetings. While reader numbers were skyrocketing, the digital advertising market collapsed. This was especially damaging since advertising was already very difficult to come by. 2/18

Our government has been putting pressure on the biggest advertisers not to spend at independent outlets, effectively starving newsrooms. (To learn more about media freedom in Hungary, listen to my testimony before the LIBE committee of the EP: bit.ly/2RTLr20) 3/18

We had money left for three months at best and had to start with the awful math of survival. How many people do we lay off? Whose salary do we cut? What parts of our journalism are we willing to sacrifice to keep our site alive? 4/18

We have been growing our audience revenue program for years, but when the coronavirus arrived, we had to switch gears. We turned to our readers, telling them openly that our survival was in their hands. 5/18

If they wouldn’t pay for independent journalism, there wouldn’t be any independent newsrooms left. You can see the subtitled version of the short video the newsroom created to raise funds here: bit.ly/3idBvid 6/18

We raised donations, organized a crowdfunding campaign, and launched a very basic membership scheme. By the autumn, we had reversed all the pandemic pay cuts. By the end of the year, we hired eight new reporters and extended our coverage. 7/18

After our most challenging year in 2020, I spent 6 months @risj_oxford in 2021 to research audience revenue programs in challenging political environments like ours. To learn how to get affluent audiences to pay for public service journalism for all. 8/18

I spoke to 23 editors, media managers, and experts from 19 newsrooms in 16 countries, mostly from CEE and the Global South. I conducted a detailed survey and structured interviews, to map out common challenges and find adaptable solutions. 9/18

While there is plenty of interference with independent media by state and political actors, there is little interference aimed directly at audience revenue programs of independent newsrooms. 10/18

Paywalls may be a foregone conclusion in developed countries, but in challenging environments, paywalls are very much up for debate. Most outlets worry about limiting the impact of their journalism: this is why they are reluctant to charge for exclusive content. 11/18

Their reservations may be perfectly legitimate, but financially speaking paywalls work for those who implement them. Outlets with active paywalls reported a higher share of audience revenues on average than those who did not have them. 12/18

My paper also explores the relationship between newsrooms and their audience, to determine what exactly readers are willing to pay for. This relationship is viewed as more emotional than transactional. 13/18

In countries where the avenues for personal political expression are limited, supporting an independent media outlet is one of the few things citizens can do to “take part” in public life and feel at least a limited agency over public affairs. 14/18

But while some readers may buy-in to support the mission rather than for specific services, providing them with recurring value is key when it comes to keeping them around. Conversions may be chiefly emotional, but retention is more transactional. 15/18

I'll talk about my research on Tuesday @membershippzzle summit from 0955 ET (1555 CET) with @CSalamank from @_elfaro_ and @premesh from @malaysiakini. You can check out the agenda and register here: bit.ly/2V3qsPS You can dl my research from here: bit.ly/3j0d0UR

There is a lot of talk about the declining trust in news. When people have to make critical decisions about their health and security based on what is reported, trusting the right source can literally save lives. 17/18

But it's also important to think about how much we, as journalists, trust our audience. In Hungary, that trust meant the difference between life and death for our independent journalism. 18/18