The Kyiv Post provides our global community a lot for free, but we rely on subscribers to stay alive.
For openers, two-thirds of our 9,000 copy print run is distributed free of charge to more than 300 places around Kyiv and throughout Ukraine. The distribution locations can be found at distribution.kyivpost.com.
We have a three-member website team that aggregates news about Ukraine also at no charge. We update www.kyivpost.com seven days a week — from 9 a. m. to 10 p. m. Kyiv time weekdays, and from 9 a. m. to 6 p. m. on Saturdays and Sundays.
We also provide a free daily newsletter, Ukraine Digest, six days a week for those who sign up and just give us their email address. It includes summaries of the day’s top stories.
We also provide three free articles monthly, six if the person is registered with us. On special topics, all articles are free if the financial donors require it. We have sought grant support for our coronavirus coverage, which is now taking the time and energy of a big part of our small journalistic staff. But so far, we’ve not secured any grants.
Yet many people have asked us to make all of our coronavirus and other news coverage free. Honestly and simply, we can’t afford to do so.
Digital subscriptions and digital advertising are now 20% of our revenue of less than $1 million per year. These twin sources must grow as the traditional source of revenue, print advertising, shrinks. Many of the most advanced news outlets get 75% or more of revenue from digital sources. As of this writing, we have 1,777 digital subscribers. We are thankful for every one of them, but there’s not enough revenue yet to sustain our staff of 50 people. If we made everything free, we’d go out of business. Like they did during the EuroMaidan Revolution that ousted President Viktor Yanukovych in 2014 and Russia’s ongoing war, many of the journalists who work here risk their safety and personal health to provide coverage of the big story.
Best bargain around
Besides original reporting, our multilingual and mostly Ukrainian staff also translates into English important news from the Ukrainian or Russian languages, including official government pronouncements. I don’t think I have to tell anybody that journalists are motivated by public service rather than by salaries; it’s not a high-paying profession.
We’re flattered that people say that our journalism is important during this time of crisis. But if this were really true, it seems to me that people could find $45 a year, less than $1 per week. For this, subscribers get unlimited access to everything: the website, PDF versions of print issues, all stories, all archives.
It’s rather cheap, not only for news websites but also compared to what people pay for an entire array of things they also find valuable: daily food, medicine, a restaurant meal, theater tickets, a taxi ride, etc. In short, we believe the Kyiv Post is one of the best bargains around.
While we are proud to earn most of our revenue from advertising, subscriptions, grants and organizing events, the truth is that all shortfalls are covered by generous donations from our publisher, Adnan Kivan of Odesa. This will keep us going as long as he is willing, but the better way is to become an independent and self-sustaining business that is supported by readers, subscribers, and advertisers.
Online subscriptions are the best way to keep journalism sustainable in the foreseeable future. Almost all newspapers in Europe and America charge — and their subscription rates are much higher than the Kyiv Post’s $45 yearly. The community has supported us for 25 years and we hope it does for another 25 years to come.
Keeping Kyiv Post alive
Taking the long-term view, keeping the Kyiv Post alive far in the future would provide a bigger service to the community than providing some free articles today.
We lifted our paywall and provided free access during the 100-day EuroMaidan Revolution. We also made coverage of Russia’s war against Ukraine free during the first year — thanks to generous donors.
But all businesses must sell something to stay alive. Money keeps waiters, lawyers, notaries, and all other professionals going. Journalism is no different.
The real question is whether the Kyiv Post will be around to provide coverage of the next crisis, the next revolution or the next war. Will the Kyiv Post be here to hold those in power accountable, as we have since 1995? We hope so. But the answer depends on you, dear reader.
The world is heading into a global recession because of the coronavirus. Ukraine usually suffers the worst in any economic slowdown.
I remember the global financial crisis of 2008–2009 when I had to lay off half of the staff and cut salaries and other expenses. It was ugly. We’re one of the few commercially and editorially independent news organizations in Ukraine. Many of the others are oligarch toys with weak ethics and no business model, while still others depend exclusively on government or grant money. When that money dries up, the organization closes.
Every dollar spent on a Kyiv Post subscription helps us field a strong team of journalists who work around the clock in multiple languages to tell the truth about Ukraine. It’s hard to put a price tag on supporting independent journalism, but $45 a year is definitely not too much.
