If journalism is valuable, as many of us think, why don't people pay for it? That's the question Alan returned to several times during our conversation. And he actually gave the answer, an existential answer to this question.

What's the purpose of your newsroom? Why do you exist as a media organisation? What audience needs do you serve? If you are able to answer these questions honestly without any corporate fluff, you come closer to answering the money question: why should people pay for your content?

'We have gone past peak content', Alan says. Nobody wakes up in the morning wanting more content - people want to get stuff done, they want a sense of community, they want to learn something new, they want to have fun etc. The problem is, as Alan points out, that many newsrooms still operate as if people wake up wanting more content for the sake of content. Wake up!

Come back and listen to us on January 9, 2025 for an all new episode.