Bloomberg’s Micklethwait: Paywalls safest way to ensure jobs – Talking Biz News

“‘The first is that paywalls really are the safest way to guarantee journalistic jobs. There are lots of reasons why The Economist has overtaken other weekly magazines, but one is that it always asks people to pay.

“‘As for Bloomberg, a rival editor here used to complain to me that we were the Man City of journalism, back when that was a compliment. That was only because we had the Bloomberg Terminal behind us — the ultimate paywall. [Now] add in our new consumer paywall offering — around a million people around the world pay for our content.’

“Bloomberg Media, the company’s consumer offering, said in October it hit 740,000 paying subscribers, representing a nearly 50% growth in a year. Bloomberg Terminal subscribers make up the balance of the million total.

“The second reason, he said, was ‘to do with independence.’

“’Some of the harder ethical decisions you face as an editor involve sponsors and advertisers. Are you happy taking money from this government entity? Should you let a tech conference be sponsored by a tech company? Do you want to share your brand with this partner?’”

Read more here.