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March 2022 - Media and PR

Subscription and membership is the top priority of commercial publishers: A major survey of news leaders, editors and CEOs has found that the leading priority for commercial publishers in 2022 is subscription and membership services, followed by display advertising and native advertising (73% and 59% respectively. 

Events (40%), E-commerce (30%) and funding from platforms (29%) were also cited, as well as donations or crowdfunding (17%), related businesses (16%) and philanthropy (15%).

However, despite the desire to push for subscriptions for revenue, almost half the news leaders polled said they have concerns that this model could see a move towards  “super-serving richer and more educated audiences”, making journalism unavailable to the wider audience. 

The annual Journalism, Media and Technology Trends and Predictions report by Reuters and the University of Oxford polled 246 news leaders in 52 countries. 

As well as subscriptions increasing, respondents reported seeing an increase in digital advertising due to more people buying online during the pandemic. Overall revenue increased for 59% of respondents, even though more than half (54%) said they had experienced falling or static page views in 2021.

Asking respondents about how confident their outlook is for 2022, three-quarters expressed that they are confident about their organisation's prospects. However, when it comes to the future of journalism on the whole, feedback was not as positive, with six in 10 feeling confident (60%). Asked to elaborate on their concerns about the future of journalism, participants said that the attacks on journalists and the free press, the financial sustainability of local publications and the polarisation of society were barriers to its future.

 

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