Tight business models for slow journalism projects: economic subsistence of slow media outlets

Abstract

Within the digital media context which imposes brevity, immediacy, and superficiality of information, digital media outlets committed to slow journalism are opting for quality, depth, and credibility in their content. This is a journalistic model which, from new digital platforms, reappraises classical journalism genres such as reports, features, and extensive interviews and in-depth analysis. Immersed in a sea of free digital content, these media outlets are resisting the crisis affecting news companies. This article analyzes the business models developed by five Spanish media outlets committed to slow journalism: 5W, CTXT, Jot down, Panenka, and Yorokobu. The main challenge for this type of media lies in facing the difficulties of capitalizing on their digital audiences. The methodology used in this research combines case studies of the analyzed media, a Delphi survey of professionals and experts in the subject, and an opinion poll of digital press consumers. From the results of our research, we can conclude that these media outlets survive thanks to very tight business models which are struggling to take root and which limit the development of their journalistic projects. Similarly, we conclude that income from subscriptions and voluntary donations represents a significant proportion of their turnover, and that they are very mindful of the loyalty of the readership community. They also resort to business diversification strategies to balance their budgets through the sale of their own paper publications or by producing content for other companies. The native digital projects studied are based on a reduced staff complemented with work by a wide network of collaborators, mostly freelance journalists.