UTC digital media workshop

The advice comes from Vivian Schiller, Editor-in-Chief and (at left) Maria Cooper Newsday Ag CEO, chats with Vivian Schiller Editor in Chief & Head of Mediaco, alongside Ian Chinapoo UTC Executive Director, during the Business Media Luncheon — The rise of Digital Media and its Impact on Mainstream Journalism, which was hosted by Unit Trust Corporation, UTC Head Office, PoS.

Tuesday, November 11, 2016. PHOTO BY ROGER JACOB head of North America for Weber Shandwick’s Mediaco practice; Weber Shandwick is a global reputation management firm.

“People are going to be reluctant to pay for digitial subscriptions, mobile ads are going to be the victim of ad-blocking.

So how do you pay for your journalism? Good journalism costs money.

Certainly, there is no one singular answer.

I don’t know what the answer is, nobody does but the savviest thing you could do with your news organisation is to experiment with different forms of revenue.” Schiller was addressing local media managers, editors, reporters and the owners/operators of independent news sites during a workshop on “The Rise of Digital Media and it’s Impact on Mainstream Journalism”, hosted by the Unit Trust Corporation of Trinidad and Tobago (UTC) at its Independence Square, Portof- Spain head office yesterday (Tuesday).

Advising media managers to “try different things”, Schiller said a lot of organisations are experimenting with community events that someone pays for or that “a sponsor wants to participate in — it doesn’t control the content but can participate in terms of the branding of (event).” She noted that others are “experimenting with creating branding content newsroom, where an organisation, separate from the journalism newsroom, is creating content that is very compelling for brands.

Who better than a news organisation at telling stories? You can tell stories with careful labelling to make sure that people don’t confuse what you’ve done for an advertiser with your proper journalism.” Schiller also said donations or pledges, while not necessarily a big revenue source, can “add up to some money.

So diversifying your revenue stream is very, very important.”