Six months ago I joined the Kyiv Post not only as their CEO but as a fan and a dedicated reader and understood clearly the level of responsibility I was about to undertake.
My first aim was to understand both the internal processes and how I could help improve on them, but more importantly to develop a clear vision for the product we would be delivering for loyal readers as well as attract new readers within Ukraine and even more importantly in other countries such as the United States, Canada, Europe and beyond.
My biggest and most important challenge so far has been developing our annual financial plan in these uncertain times which would help map out our potential future growth in terms of new products, markets and distribution. The clear aim here is to create profit in order to reinvest and grow the organization to the next level. To get there, we must keep attracting, retaining and developing the best people possible so to produce an even stronger product for you the reader!
Which brings me to a question I’ve been getting lately. “I noticed Kyiv Post now has a hard paywall. Why?”
I usually answer with a smile “If I have a restaurant, should I give my food away for free?” Not a very smart business model in my opinion.
The notion that news online should be free is a matter of shortsightedness from publishers due to the cannibalization of the internet on traditional news print during the last 10 years. Publishers in general saw the internet as a way to reach more people and utilize this new format without clearly understanding that they were slowly destroying their own businesses. In short, the rules were changing when it came to the delivery of content.
Few had a clear monetization plan that could benefit both the consumer and their businesses. Newspapers were still relying on their bricks and mortar model to keep the ship steaming ahead while quietly the online medium was slowly growing in terms of ease of access to information, tools and most importantly accessibility and engagement.
This meant that consumers would not go back to the old, but would continue pushing the new platform forward and would eventually create major disturbances. In the music industry it was Napster, for video content it was Youtube, Kindle for books, Torrent streams, etc., gave people the power to control when and how they should receive the product of their choosing on their terms.
Apple saw this shift and jumped at the chance to adjust the trend in their favor where an enhanced platform would serve people better and give them what they wanted. Music on demand at a fair price. The music industry was forced to jump on board to survive and the rest is billions of transactions with no end in sight. The model helped change the medium for the better.
My point: You can get your information for free from other sources, one story here and another there, but the Kyiv Post gives you something that others don’t, cannot and will not… trusted news about Ukraine by people who know what is truly happening on the ground and insight you could not get anywhere else on a consistent basis globally.
Building the 2017 business plan with my talented team made me realize just how much work and investment goes into keeping and growing new products such as video content, a new website to give you a better experience, an upcoming app, events, specialized reporters, etc.
All this cost money and the only way we can keep delivering this is by having a community who supports us by either buying subscriptions or advertisements. Otherwise, we would become much like a restaurant that gives its food away. We’d be forced to close our doors or drastically reduce the products to serve our clientele.
In the end, it’s simply a matter of perception of value concerning what the news delivers and its purpose to keep you informed so you can make responsible decisions in your personal or business life.
I know that in a world overtaken with ‘FAKE NEWS,’ being the CEO and seeing the numbers in this year’s business plan and more so, being a reader, I now understand the value of wanting to pay and support for the service of accurate and honest news. If I can’t trust what I am reading, then does that make it OK to tell myself all is good because I got it for free?
I hope the rest of you loyal readers will agree with my point of view and continue your support in the form of buying a subscription or placing advertising so we can continue to deliver quality news.
