Change coming at The Economist?

Max Tani of Semafor writes about The Economist, which faces a minority owner who wants to sell her stake and changes in the media industry.

Tani writes, “Others have questioned how The Economist can successfully remain a faceless print monolith in an era of personalization. For now, the publication is largely prioritizing operating within its own digital ecosystem. It keeps a hard paywall on its content to encourage users to subscribe, and once they have joined, funnels users towards The Economist’s mobile app and tries to keep them there.

“Minton Beddoes and Economist President Luke Bradley-Jones’ solution to the rise in interest in influencer-driven content has been the development of Insider, a video-first editorial series launched late last year intended to make The Economist’s previously anonymous personalities into recognizable digital video stars.

“The publication has poured millions of pounds into the effort, building out a TV-quality studio and hiring experienced video staff. Initial results have been modestly encouraging; interviews with world leaders like Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made news and garnered millions of views across The Economist’s social channels, as well as being available in its own app.

“But as a generation of media companies have found, it’s hard to channel social scale into revenue. The company’s leadership had originally conceived Insider as a premium add-on to the Economist’s subscription, but decided that the demand wasn’t great enough to sustain the video series as its own offering, and folded it into the existing magazine subscription.”