Roger Fidler, RJI Program Director for Digital Publishing, assesses the current journalism business model and proposes how to flip it to monetize high-value enterprise journalism.

1. The Go-To Place for Ideas, Experiments, and Research • • • www.RJIonline.org
Flipping the Model
A contrarian’s strategy for growth in the mobile era
Roger Fidler
RJI Program Director for Digital Publishing
March 27, 2014
donald w.
reynolds journalism instituterji

2. Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute 2 of 12 Fidler 3/27/14
● General interest news has become a
pervasive, low-value commodity.
● Printed editions continue to decline,
but they won’t disappear soon.
● Mobile media will increase the
demand for enterprise journalism.
● Printed editions will coexist with
mobile media as marketing tools
for enterprise journalism products.
● Monetizing enterprise journalism products
is essential to the future of newspapers.
“Print journalists will need to change their concept
of what a newspaper is.” — Roger Fidler, 1991
The State of Newspapers in the Mobile Era

3. Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute 3 of 12 Fidler 3/27/14
● Enterprise journalism includes investigative, explanatory,
informative, interactive and all other types of
in-depth, non-fiction story telling on single topics.
● When done well, this is high-value content with potential
to attract new readers as well as significant new revenue.
● Some news organizations, journalists, and journalism
educators have already begun to publish enterprise
journalism stories as eBooks (and other forms of niche
content products) for mobile media.
● Monetizing these products will require changes to the
traditional print model for processing content, and the
creation of a global marketplace for enterprise journalism.
● This is what I refer to as “Flipping the Model.”
Monetizing Enterprise Journalism

4. Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute 4 of 12 Fidler 3/27/14
TYPICAL PROCESS
1. Assign reporters to gather information and write stories.
2. Assign photographers and artists to create art elements.
3. Edit and lay out single-topic enterprise stories for printed
editions as special sections or multi-part series.
4. Repurpose enterprise stories for websites after editing
and laying out pages for printed editions.
5. Optional: Repurpose enterprise stories for mobile apps
after repurposing content for websites.
6. Optional: Repackage enterprise stories as eBooks some
time after stories are published in print and on the Web.
The Traditional Print Model
Based on 100 Years of Enterprise Print Journalism

5. Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute 5 of 12 Fidler 3/27/14
PLUSES
● Can provide competitive advantages.
● Can enhance a news organization’s reputation.
● Can make a difference in the community, nation, or world.
● Can win awards.
MINUSES
● Difficult, time consuming, and expensive to produce.
● Little or no direct monetary return on investment.
● Time consuming and inconvenient for readers.
Pluses and Minuses of Traditional Print Model
Based on 100 Years of Enterprise Print Journalism

6. Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute 6 of 12 Fidler 3/27/14
NEW PROCESS
1. Assign reporters to gather information and write stories.
2. Assign photographers and artists to create art elements.
3. Edit and lay out high-value enterprise stories as eBooks
before they are published in print and on the Web.
4. Make eBooks ready to sell through online stores.
5. Produce promotional materials to appear on websites, in
social media, in print, and on radio and television.
6. Publish key points and brief excerpts from the enterprise
stories over a period of several days in printed editions and
on websites along with linked promos for the eBooks.
Flipping the Model
To monetize high-value enterprise journalism

7. Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute 7 of 12 Fidler 3/27/14
PLUSES
● Can provide competitive advantages.
● Can enhance a news organization’s reputation.
● Can make a difference in the community, nation, or world.
● Can win awards.
● Can provide direct monetary return on investments.
● Can be more compelling and convenient for readers.
MINUSES
● Just as difficult, time consuming, and expensive to produce.
Pluses and Minuses of Flipping the Model
To monetize high-value enterprise journalism

8. Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute 8 of 12 Fidler 3/27/14
● Few people know news organizations,
journalists and journalism educators
are producing eBooks.
● Even fewer people know what eBooks
are available or where to find them.
● Little or no promotion.
● No coordinated marketing efforts.
● No shared data on the sales of eBooks.
● Most news organizations, journalists
and journalism educators lack the skills
and resources to produce and market
eBooks for mobile media.
What Are the Obstacles to Monetizing eBooks?
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9. Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute 9 of 12 Fidler 3/27/14
● Build and manage a comprehensive
database of eBooks produced by
news organizations, journalists, and
journalism educators.
● Drive traffic to these eBooks by
developing, implementing, managing,
and promoting a website and mobile
apps that would provide free public
access to the database.
● Offer alternativeservices for production,
hosting, distribution, e-commerce,
marketing, and promotion.
● Capture relevant analytics on searches
and accesses.
Proposed Enterprise Journalism Marketplace
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unprecedented inside look at the Church of
Scientology and its leader, David Miscavige.
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PUBLIC INTEGRITY
The International Consortium
of Investigative Journalists
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the
SeasThis award-winning investigation
examines the forces that are rapidly
depleting the oceans of fish
D I G I TA L N E W S B O O K

10. Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute 10 of 12 Fidler 3/27/14
What Will It Take to Make It Happen?
● Partnering with news organizations,
associations, journalism schools,
and vendors.
● Securing investments from partners.
● Forming a non-profit entity.
● Recruiting a development team.
● About one year to develop and
launch.
● Agreements to actively promote
the marketplace within news
organizations’ printed editions,
websites and apps.

11. Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute 11 of 12 Fidler 3/27/14
Reynolds Journalism Institute’s Proposed Role
● Identify and contact potential partners.
● Assess level of interest.
● Go/No Go decision. If Go:
● Work with partners to create a business plan and
the initial specifications for database, website and apps.
● Help to secure investments.
● Assemble the development team.
● Serve as the marketplace incubator.

12. The Go-To Place for Ideas, Experiments, and Research
www.RJIonline.org
Flipping the Model
Roger Fidler
Program Director for Digital Publishing
FidlerR@RJIonline.org
donald w.
reynolds journalism instituterji