The Canary Proves Online Journalism Pays (If You Give Your Readers What They Want)

The left leaning news website set up a just over 12 months ago on an initial investment of just £500 is proving that online journalism can pay if you give you readers what they want.

The Canary turned over £250,000 in its first year of operation, has grown to become a top 100 UK news site and now employs an editorial team of 25 (mainly) part-time workers.

The site is funded, like many other online publications, through a combination of advertising, sponsorship and subscriptions.

Unlike many other publications, The Canary doesn’t feel it needs to offer readers any other incentive to support the title other than their content.

The Canary’s editor-in-chief Kerry-Anne Mendoza told journalists (http://www.pressgazette.co.uk/the-canary-from-500-start-up-to-top-100-uk-news-website-in-the-space-of-a-year/): “Paying subscribers for this whole first year don’t get anything. They don’t get a mug, they don’t get a t-shirt, they don’t even get an email from us saying welcome.

“They are paying for content that they could get for free purely because they want our writers to earn more money.”

Highlighting the success of the operation Mendoza said: “What people seem to like us for is breaking open legislation that’s coming through and actually explaining it in a way people understand and can see what the risks are and then take action.”

The Canary operates a unique business model which it explains on its website:

• First, we pay tax. We are based in the UK and are happy to contribute our share to develop a wonderful country, not without its problems of course.
• Then we pay costs which we keep below 5% of our gross revenue.
• What is left is our net profit. We split this simply:
  • 50% to our writers
  • 10% to our section editors
  • 20% to our leadership team
  • 20% goes back into the company for marketing and new projects

Each writer and editor is paid in two ways. Firstly, each article receives a flat rate equal payment from our monthly income from supporters. So with each new supporter the pay per article goes up every month. Secondly, each article receives a top-up payment based directly on the percentage of web traffic, and therefore advertising income, that articles generate during a given calendar month. It’s as simple as that.

While The Canary’s politics might not be everyone’s cup of tea (including many left-wing supporters), their approach to business should be of interest to any writer or publisher that wants to invest in the future of journalism.