The future of news: know thy audience

theguardian reporting:
When we launched The Information last December, many thought we were crazy. How could a $399-a-year technology news publication compete in a world all but overrun with free alternatives? How could an eight-person startup that aimed to educate the world's professionals about the technology industry compete with venerable brands like the Wall Street Journal on the one hand and dozens of ambitious tech websites on the other?
Four months after our launch, I'm more confident than ever that our business is going to be a lasting one. My confidence is rooted in a simple idea that all news businesses need to relearn as they redefine themselves for the digital age: know thy audience.
This idea seems obvious, almost cliché, especially in the technology sector. I'll confess to rolling my eyes countless times as I've listened to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and hoards of other entrepreneurs harp on about the importance of putting the customer first...
Today, most news organisations are adjusting to the fact that the internet has toppled the distribution models that once supported them in style. Seduced by the billions that Google and others have made off free, ad-supported services, they've convinced themselves that online advertising is the future and thus they should focus on building the widest possible audience. Subscription offerings, in many cases, were an afterthought.
The Information is founded on the opposite principle. We believe the best way to build a brand is to be indispensable to some people, rather than try to appeal to everyone. The business model aligned with that mission is a subscription business where our only incentive is to write articles our customers want so badly they are willing to pay for them.
One benefit of the model is it helps build our revenue quickly. But a far more important outcome is that it puts the focus exclusively on high-quality, original journalism. In the world of ad-supported media, traffic volume is everything. Too often that means sacrificing quality for quantity and prioritising stories that generate clicks. In the subscription world, quantity doesn't move the needle. Quality does...
http://www.theguardian.com/media-network/media-network-blog/2014/mar/19/future-news-digital-media-audience?CMP=new_1194