The importance of a business journal subscription

Alex Orfinger, publisher of the Washington Business Journal, writes about why such a publication is important.

Orfinger writes, “They don’t advertise, they don’t sponsor events, they don’t support their people when they are honored at our editorial awards. The local office pays for just two subscriptions — an outlier for an organization of its size. So, that answered my first question: They do value us as a source of information. But the rest of the staff benefited from a little workaround that the PR contact was none too shy to share: ‘We all read the Business Journal, but we share passwords.’

“Like Netflix? Ouch.

“Seriously, sharing passwords? I get it. In the real world, this happens. But in the same breath, they’re thanking us for the hard work of our reporters. Which makes me want to ask: How do you think we pay those reporters?

“Journalism is a tough business. To produce and deliver high-quality, incisive local business news several times a day requires support for those resources. From the editorial side of our office, we provide that crucial local business intelligence, and we will always continue to cover any local company that drives local news and highlight key newsmakers at our editorial events. But if you hear from the entirely separate sales side of our office, it’s because the Business Journal, as a business enterprise, is supported by readers, advertisers, sponsors and other people and organizations who see the value of that intelligence and community.”

Read more here.