I am sure we all understand by now, that parts of the News Media industry are in utter disarray, and that this is primarily due to the fact that monetization of their products has changed drastically.

In my opinion and as we examine Online News Media, it very much seems like there is a mixed understanding of the actually currency in which the newsreader can pay for the product. If we focus on the statement, that it is always the actual newsreader who pays, something which I very much believe to be true, we should conclude on the currency in which he pays, before we even debate the actual monetization strategy.

As I was talking to an executive of a major Newspaper the other day, I presented a theory that the newsreader can only pay in the following three currencies:

• Time
• Data
• Money

Even though the above newsreader currencies are almost self-explanatory, let me just elaborate a bit.

Time spent on a given News Media destination or reading a specific article is Attention and Engagement that can be sold to an Advertiser. Data is something that the reader hands over unintentionally as he navigates the news media property, but also something which he can hand over voluntarily. Data can be used to enhance the quality of what’s already sold the to the advertiser, of course, but it is certainly also something that can be sold as a separate product in a number of ways. Finally there is the opportunity to actually just charge the reader directly for the product, such as setting up a paywall, metered consumption system and so on and so forth.

I am not going to add any suggestions on where I believe we could or should optimize, as I am quite eager to see if we can at least agree on the above currencies first. Because, as see it, for us to have a meaningful conversation around monetization, we need to look at the above on an individual level.

Do we agree ?

Cheers :-)
/ Dennis (@dennismortensen)