There is no denying it, the media business is falling apart, especially on a local level.
The last few months have been devastating to local radio and newspapers. Rogers closed a news-talk station. Metroland Media Group sought bankruptcy protection and ceased printing 70 newspapers in Ontario. Bell Media cut 1,300 employees across Canada. Le Droit is only printing on Saturdays. The city’s other dailies have substantially shrunk.
“The bottom line is that with every journalist that is laid off, and every publication that shutters its doors, Canada’s democratic resiliency erodes a little bit more,” said Brent Jolly, president of the Canadian Association of Journalists.
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Layer on the ongoing dispute of Bill C-18 and you must conclude these are dark days for local journalism.
I’m not writing this to elicit sympathy.
Sympathy is not a business strategy.
A business can only thrive when it has purpose, offers value and, quite often, fills a niche.
To me, OBJ does exactly that.
We recognize that the status quo is not an option. We are making the largest digital investments in our history. We have the largest newsroom in two decades. By every measure, our audience is growing on web, social, email, video and events.
OBJ INSIDER FOR GROUPS
One year ago, we introduced OBJ Insider, a subscription program for premium website content and delivery of printed publications, like OBJ’s quarterly newsmagazine and the ever-popular Book of Lists.
We realized that after 25 years of free content, some OBJ readers would not be happy. That’s understandable. I get it.
Fortunately, hundreds of readers understood the value proposition and became OBJ Insiders. In doing so, they gained access to daily OBJ Insider website coverage, in-depth articles that go deeper than others and offer intrinsic value. Plus, they got several publications via mail, including the new Techopia-EY Insights magazine.
At this one-year anniversary, we launch another offering: OBJ Insider for Groups, meaning groups of employees at private corporations, non-profits and government departments.
Under development for months, OBJ Insider for Groups has two distinct features. First, it provides a price discount of up to 20 per cent for organizations to sign up groups of people. (The discount starts at two or more subscribers.) Second, it’s self-administered, allowing organizations to add or remove users on a monthly basis.
OBJ Insider for Groups is extremely important because it allows us to accelerate our subscriber base.
DECIDE ON VALUE, NOT SYMPATHY
Every day, I believe OBJ demonstrates its value by providing unique local business journalism that you won’t find anywhere else. There is an interesting value proposition for business journalism, if you compare it to something like political or sports news. Business journalism can build context for important decisions and sometimes even become an actionable business opportunity.
To me, there is a business case to invest in OBJ Insider for Groups.
If you join, don’t do it for sympathy. Do it for value. And know that your spend is also an investment in local journalism.
P.S. This group subscription is not the end of OBJ’s evolution, not by a long shot. Standby for another big digital change early in 2024 that involves OBJ’s biggest ever data offering.
Michael Curran is the publisher of the Ottawa Business Journal.
