Success stories of innovation in journalism to follow in 2017 (II): Zetland Magasin

Success stories of innovation in journalism to follow in 2017 (II): Zetland Magasin

About a couple of weeks ago, we explain to you how in the Norwegian publication NRKbeta carried out the implementation of their new system to filter and moderate comments. And this time, the Opennemas team wanted to detail another case of innovation in journalism. Once again, from northern Europe. Now, with the seal of quality from Denmark.

At the beginning of February 2017, Iker Barinagarrementeria, art director in the innovation area of Vocento, published in Yorokobu magazine an extract from his interview with Lea Korsgaard, visible leader of Zetland Magasin, a striking digital media due to the content offered and their strategy to be financially stable since its inception.

lea_zetland

Lea Korsgaard, Zetland Magasin chief editor

Korsgaard cut through the fog in explaining what purpose Zetland pursues: "We wanted to save narrative journalism after the media debacle on paper". And so, beyond the famous personalities and viral articles about animals in the other corner of the world, they decided to focus on the 'longform' formats: wide stories, far from the traditional spectrum. Honest journalism, but away from the boring and reinforced by two essential components: the graphic section and the total lack of advertisements.

And here comes the question that many of you might have done: How to survive without it? As this debate would give for long, we will leave it for future posts, but Korsgaard had no hesitation in detailing Barinagarrementeria which is the model to explore (and exploit): "We try to convince people that they have to pay for the news to get good journalism (...). And we prefer to earn money in this way than getting it through traffic and advertisement, because the current model does not work". Subscribing to Zetland? 13 euros per month.

In addition, they have combined it with an interesting strategy of free live events that, in turn, serve to increase the subscribers numbers and create a sphere of discussion -in the good sense of the word- on current hot topics. "As a member you can get your ticket for free and you can also pay to go, the interesting thing is that these events are a good tool to attracting members" says Korsgaard.

Another question is: Would it be applicable in other countries with a different culture in terms of payment for access to content? We invite you to check it with Opennemas! Our CMS allows you to enjoy a subscription module with which you can create and filter the premium articles in your digital newspaper for your media members. Come with us!

CREATE YOUR OWN OPENNEMAS FOR FREE!

opennemas_english

Success stories of innovation in journalism to follow in 2017 (II): Zetland Magasin