Media managers, editors, and publishers understandably may be feeling powerless at the threat posed to media businesses globally by the coronavirus. Harlan Mandel, chief executive officer at the Media Development Investment Fund, recommends steps news executives can take to limit the losses they are facing and to give direction to their business decisions.
The old news business model has been serving advertisers and investors at the expense of the most important people in the media equation — the public, the readers, the users. But now that digital media have broken up that arranged marriage of advertising and news content, publishers are rediscovering the importance of focusing on serving readers.
Many media investors see disaster everywhere they look, as traditional media lose audience, revenues, and relevance. However, the importance of media is “absolutely obvious” and media companies need more support from democratic societies than they are getting.
For high-quality journalism to thrive after the collapse of the traditional business model for media, independent media outlets need to leverage on their social capital to generate revenue and ensure editorial independence. The economic value of social impact can be used to justify and attract investments from foundations, NGOs, businesses, the public, and even government.
