Trustworthy news thrives in Spain
At a time when many news media were laying people off or shutting down, elDiario was debt-free and profitable. Last year it made $1.8 million.
Read More »
Trust #5: Spain’s media icon retires, blames ‘destructive polarization’ in society
‘Journalism is not in a crisis, it is reinventing itself,’ he says upon retirement Iñaki Gabilondo speaking at the University of Navarra, where I taught, in 2018. (Author’s photo) What better model of Spanish eloquence and journalistic integrity could there be than Iñaki Gabilondo. For decades, he was the host of Spain’s top morning radio […]
Read More »
Retiring media legend warns, ‘stay independent’
Spain’s Iñaki Gabilondo sees ‘destructive’ polarization as threat to democracy What better model of Spanish eloquence and journalistic integrity could there be than Iñaki Gabilondo. For decades, he was the host of Spain’s top morning radio program, “Hoy por hoy” (Today). I got to know him by listening to audiocasettes with excerpts of his programs […]
Read More »
Academic journals adopt new business models
Reduced university subsidies and digital competition threaten their survival The explosive growth of academic research and the need of researchers to publish their findings have contributed to a financial crisis in the ecosystem of academic publishers. The causes and solutions were debated during an online roundtable sponsored by Spain-based CRECS (International conference of journals of […]
Read More »
How eldiario.es gets people to pay for a free publication
The secret lies in treating users like partners in the journalism project “We’re independent because we’re profitable.” — Ignacio Escolar, director, eldiario.es The journalism industry has noticed the success of the digital media startup eldiario.es and is trying to duplicate it. That will not be easy. This independent news publication in Spain has been growing […]
Read More »
My newsstand guy is quitting, victim of digital media
PAMPLONA, Spain — For the past five years I have been buying my newspapers on the weekend at a neighborhood newsstand. The owner and I, Jesus Erro, got to be casual friends, and we talked about the politics and culture of our respective countries. He is a big reader. This weekend, I found […]
Read More »
Letters to a newspaper publisher III: A shameful scandal right under your nose
How should a media executive manage the business during a time of disruptive technological change? Alfonso Nieto attempted to answer that question in his book “Letters to a newspaper publisher,” written in 1987 when newsrooms in Spain were moving from typewriters to computers. His comments have acute relevance today. In this letter to a […]
Read More »