This resource is part of our Exiled Media Toolkit, produced in partnership with the Network of Exiled Media Outlets (NEMO), and with the generous support of the Joyce Barnathan Emergency Fund for Journalists.
It was the worst-case scenario. On the night of December 13, 2018, Nicaragua’s national police raided the offices of Confidencial, an independent media outlet based in the capital city of Managua, stealing computers, documents, TV equipment, and other belongings. The next day, police officers occupied the newsroom, never returning it to Carlos Fernando Chamorro, the outlet’s founding editor.
This marked the beginning of a long struggle for independent media outlets in Nicaragua, many of whom were forced into exile or to shutter their operations completely – a consequence of a political crisis that had started in April of that year.
Confidencial, a member of the Network of Exiled Media Outlets (NEMO), lost not only its newsroom but practically all forms of traditional advertising revenue. Its business model was forced to change drastically and rely much more heavily on grants. Next to the safety of team members, sustainability was a top priority, and diversifying revenue streams became a vital part of the outlet’s long-term strategy.
More and more newsrooms globally are navigating similar circumstances today, unfortunately. Here are five tips for media outlets to build reader revenue while operating in exile:
Survey your most loyal readers
There’s no better way to introduce a product, test a prototype, or develop a service than to do it with the "blessing" of your most loyal audiences. Surveys are vital for this.
At Confidencial in late 2018, we asked our readers if they were willing to financially support the outlet. More than half of respondents said yes.
We were encouraged, but also a bit hesitant about how serious our readers were about that promise. In January 2019, when we were expelled from national television and many of our staff fled into exile, we took our chances and asked for our readers’ help.
They showed up and continued to show up throughout that year with donations ranging from five dollars to more than $1,000. It was humbling to see the overflow of help. And while we had good and bad months – reader revenue tends to be volatile during a political crisis – we identified a trend: the most loyal donors would help consistently over the course of the year.
We knew we were building the foundation of a long-term initiative. But we also knew that we couldn’t run donation campaigns forever. So, we conducted another survey, this time asking our donors if they would be interested in joining a membership program. The purpose of the membership, we explained, was to establish a community around freedom of expression, which would simultaneously improve our sustainability.
More than half of respondents again said yes. For us, this was another “blessing,” and in July 2020 we launched our membership plan, which today brings in about 40% of our direct income.
Your databases are a goldmine
I can’t stress this enough: don’t underestimate your newsletters. The people who will provide first-party information around demographics, consumption practices, living conditions, income, and more – bypassing intermediaries such as big data companies – are those on your newsletter subscription lists.
Your subscribers will help you grow “brand lovers,” or readers who strongly identify with your outlet. Brand lovers were the first ones to respond to our donation campaigns, fill out surveys, send us emails with content suggestions, and attend our webinars, among other actions.
If your outlet doesn’t offer a free newsletter yet, start one now. Here’s a little secret: you don’t have to hire someone to write and send a newsletter – at least, not at the start. You can rely on your RSS system to populate your newsletter template, and use your email marketing campaign platform to send it. It’s that easy to create a reading habit among your subscribers that will pay off when you most need it.
Review your product portfolio
Chances are, if your newsroom goes into exile its operational capacity will suffer. There will be significant pressure on staff and little time to create products from scratch.
Fortunately, you don’t have to reinvent the wheel when you are setting up a reader revenue model. Ask yourself, what content channels can you repurpose? What reporting can you repackage? Consider these examples:
Platform repurposing
Years before we left Nicaragua, our team created a YouTube channel to upload the content from the programs we had aired on national television. Doing so enabled us to reach audiences abroad who didn’t have access to our live broadcasts. It also served as an archive of our video content.
When Confidencial was expelled from national television in January 2019, losing our most profitable revenue source (TV advertisements), we asked our audiences to subscribe to our YouTube channel and began broadcasting our TV shows on the platform.
In four years, the number of subscribers to ConfidencialNica grew by more than 2,000%. Thereafter, programmatic advertising on YouTube – the profitability of which is directly tied to how well you’re engaging your followers – became a pillar of our business model.
Content repackaging
In 2019, one of our products was a print magazine that we distributed among embassies, non-governmental organizations, and thought leaders who lived in Managua. The magazine served as an “exclusive preview” of the content that would be published on our website the following week.
Upon being forced into exile, we repackaged this magazine as a digital product. Our designer already had to create a PDF version of the magazine to print it, so we didn’t have to invest any additional effort: the product was already there, it was digital and easy to distribute, and soon became one of the main perks we offered our donors and members. We started sending the digital magazine as a newsletter, signed by our editor-in-chief.
We replicated this effort with other content, as well: we repackaged our most prominent investigations, photo essays, opinion articles, and editorial cartoons as eBooks. We offered these eBooks as a perk of our donation campaigns.
Hire (at least) one person to handle your loyal community
I know, this one is tough. Especially if you are in exile. Budgets are tight, and the reality is that journalists can’t do it all. You need someone – ideally, a team – to think strategically, develop ideas around reader revenue, and be the point of contact with readers.
I can’t tell you how many times readers said they were grateful to have a human being answer their emails and questions, take their calls, and call them by their names. You have to make your readers feel special because they are.
Humanity is key to fostering trust – and trust pays off.
Don’t quit. It’s probably too soon
To launch a successful reader revenue model, you must get to know your audience. They will love some of your efforts, but not others. It’s important to develop minimum viable products and give yourself time to test them.
In Confidencial’s case, we adjusted aspects of our engagement initiatives to be successful. For example, while in our donation campaigns we offered readers who met a certain donation threshold private conversations with our journalists, it turned out that our readers felt more comfortable (and perhaps less intimidated) joining virtual events where anyone could participate. In response, we organized open events that gave “early bird” access to donors and members.
In another instance, after launching our membership program, many of our readers told us that they preferred only to donate and not become members. It was evident that some people didn’t want the kind of long-term commitment that comes with membership. We created a donation page specifically for these readers and offered additional options for other preferences.
If we had stopped any of these initiatives within the first weeks of implementing them, we wouldn’t have gathered the information needed to tweak and adapt them to our readers’ needs.
Five years into Nicaragua’s political crisis, the country’s media outlets are experimenting with different ways to monetize trust. They are doing so in a context of fierce persecution of independent journalism, and mostly from exile, with very few resources.
If you are navigating a similar situation, remember that your audience can help you develop products to generate reader revenue. They will show up and help you financially.
Most importantly, they will teach you this: reader revenue is not about speed, it’s about persistence.
Cinthia Membreño is the coordinator of the Network of Exiled Media Outlet (NEMO) and previously served as Audience Loyalty Manager at Confidencial, a Nicaraguan exiled media outlet based in Costa Rica since 2019.