For years, many of us in the Indian news industry have looked to publications like the Nieman Journalism Lab and the Columbia Journalism Review or blogs & podcasts like the Rebooting and A Media Operator for perspectives on the trends shaping our profession – even if those voices came from afar. We’ve even seen some creators, like Splice, show up closer to home.
And while India does have websites and publications that do valuable work covering the industry, we felt the need for another platform that keeps its focus squarely on the business side of the news business. A space to discuss everything from reader revenue and subscription models to the challenges facing legacy organisations hoping to sustain their digital operations via programmatic advertisements and brand studios. A place to gather insights from practitioners in the industry and document shifts taking place across the media landscape.
That’s what gave us the idea of starting RePivot – a media collective, a newsletter and also a podcast.
On the very first episode of the RePivot podcast, Jayant Sriram and I introduce what we’re setting out to do with the show, and then we bring in two other members of the collective – Nikhil Kanekal and Ramanathan S – to answer a straightforward question: What news business trend have you been thinking about, of late?
Among the things we delve into on the episode are:
Concerns about the digital advertising model, and how Indian news organisations are tackling the massive shifts expected on this front.
The challenge of raising reader revenue i.e. building a subscription or membership model, in a country where few expect to shell out money for the news.
The task of rebuilding trust in the news media, at a time when generative AI might make it even harder for readers to believe what they’re seeing online.
The experiments in editorial product innovation we are seeing from around the industry, whether through novel formats or fresh approaches to familiar subjects.
We hope to dig deeper into each one of these and many more subjects in future episodes of the podcast. If you have an answer to that question – what news business trend have you been thinking about, of late? – tell us what it is in the comments below, or write to us at repivot@substack.com. If you would like be on a future episode with us or have ideas about what we should focus on, please contact us.
RePivot Episode 1: The business of news in India