Local Newspapers are struggling all over the world. Check out Patriot Act’s latest episode on how the news industry is getting destroyed.
People want news on their smartphone. They are ditching physical newspapers for online subscriptions. They want high-quality content curated for them, not the advertisers. They want to not only be aware of the national news but also be involved in what’s going on locally.
Since advertisers have moved to digital platforms, local newspapers are struggling to bring in cash. They aren’t equipped like NYT or WSJ, to build out the technical infrastructure. Hundreds of journalists are being asked to leave, thus lowering the extent and quality of journalism.
COVID-19 has further ruined the news industry.
I believe Medium is in a perfect position to save local journalism. The company has already figured out distribution, payments and royalty – everything a newspaper wants.
Most importantly, users cherish the clean and ad-free UI.
Medium can onboard local newspapers and journalists on its platform and offer news in a separate publication like OneZero.
Overall, users get local news digitally, journalists get paid fairly and local newspapers stay afloat.
A win-win-win situation.
Patriot Act: https://youtu.be/icNirsV1rLA
Photo Credits: Medium
Prashant Bagga 