How the Economist has 35 million followers on social media

Dominic Ponsford of The Press Gazette writes about how The Economist has 35 million followers on various social media. Ponsford writes, “Standage said that social media is driving traffic and subscriptions. The Economist claims total magazine sales in print, and digitally, of 1.5m a week worldwide. “He said: ‘Users who come to us from social are […]

Economist relaunching high-end magazine as 1843

The Economist plans to relaunch its upscale magazine Intelligent Life as 1843, named after the year it was founded, writes Lucinda Southern of Digiday. Southern writes, “Newly appointed editor Emma Duncan has come on board from The Economist where she was deputy editor. At 1843, she leads a team of 25 across editorial and commercial, and also […]

Economist plans to double circulation profits

Lucinda Southern of Digiday writes about how The Economist plans to double its circulation profits in the next five years. Southern writes, “To keep growing, The Economist needs to increase its digital subscribers, reduce the cost of print by migrating subscribers to digital, and reduce cost per customer acquisition. “It’s on track to reach its targets, said Douglas McCabe, […]

Economist sees 31 percent growth in digital readers

The Economist reported a 31- percent growth in digital subscribers during the last six months of 2015, according to Audit Bureau of Circulation data. In North America, The Economist’s largest market, digital subscribers rose 14.3 percent to 127,292. Overall, total digital subscribers rose to more than 303,000. Digital circulation grew 47 percent in the United […]

Economist publishing stories on Japanese messaging app Line

The Economist is now posting stories on the Japanese messaging app Line, reports Lucinda Southern of Digiday. Southern writes, “The Economist is not the first publisher on Line. Both the BBC and The Wall Street Journal have set up shop on the messaging app. Line, which was created in Japan and spread to other Asian markets, boasts 212 […]

Economist names two reporters for its New York bureau

The Economist announced Thursday that two of its journalists have been posted to its New York city bureau to cover consumer goods, marketing and media. Gady Epstein is the media editor. Prior to that he took over as Beijing bureau chief of The Economist in 2014. In that role and before that as China correspondent […]

How The Economist is attacking virtual reality

Lucinda Southern of Digiday writes about how The Economist is using virtual reality to tell stories on its website. Southern writes, “Currently, the Economist is working on another VR project on how it can make a virtual experience out of its Big Mac Index, the publisher’s long-running demonstration of each country’s relative economic health through the price of […]

Why the FT and the Economist sold for premiums

William Cohan writes for the New York Times about why the Financial Times and the Economist sold earlier this year for large multiples during a time of upheaval in the media industry. Cohan writes, “At these prices, though, there is no guarantee that either buyer will make money on its investment. The newspaper business could […]

Economist begins selling ads on cost-per-hour basis

The Economist has started selling ads on its applications and website on a cost-per-hour basis, reports Jessica Davies of Digiday. Davies writes, “The move follows the Financial Times’ adoption of time-based selling in early 2015. “‘Viewability doesn’t provide attention. It is a proxy for quality. The next step in the evolution of media buying is […]

Why the Economist’s Espresso doesn’t have story links

Tom Standage, deputy editor of The Economist, spoke with Nieman Journalism Lab about The Economist Espresso, a morning briefing from its editors. Here is an excerpt: The content is all written internally. The longer pieces (150-word ‘chunks’) are written by our beat correspondents, the same people who write articles in the weekly. The shorter ‘gobbets’ […]