Making News Pay: Ethnic Media Offers Lessons

Making News Pay: Ethnic Media Offers Lessons

From left to right: Panelists Phillip Crawley, Pierre-Elliott Levasseur and John Cruickshank with moderator Kelly Toughill at the Canadian Journalism Foundation’s “The Challenge of Making News Pay” panel discussion. Photo Credit: Priya Ramanujam

Written by New Canadian Media

By Priya Ramanujam in Toronto

Ethnic media may have lessons to offer on connecting to audiences and providing diverse services as traditional news organizations seek new business models in order to make journalism profitable again.

The growing challenges of sustaining a news outlet in today’s market was the focus of a recent panel hosted by the Canadian Journalism Foundation, featuring the heads of three of the country’s largest media outlets.

It was a timely conversation given that across the board — in mainstream, community, ethnic and niche publications — newsrooms continue to downsize and even close.

Technology was at the forefront of the solutions panelists presented. These included paywalls for online content at The Globe and Mail and tapping into younger audience through tablet applications for La Presse and the Toronto Star.

But the solution to making news pay doesn’t rely solely on expensive technology, which may come as a relief for smaller publications.

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