Axel Springer considering paywall for Business Insider

Business Insider The Berlin-based publisher Axel Springer is considering a subscription model for Business Insider, which it agreed to take over in a $343 million deal in September, writes Stefan Nicola of Bloomberg News.

Nicola writes, “The changes are part of a wider plan by Chief Executive Officer Mathias Doepfner to spend aggressively on digital media, mainly in the English-speaking world. Axel Springer on Tuesday said it raised its stake in New York-based social video producer NowThis Media Inc. to 14.6 percent from 4.3 percent, after leading a $16 million funding round. It’s also backing Thrillist Media Group, a lifestyle portal targeting male readers.

“While Axel Springer is ‘full of optimism’ on its U.S. push, ‘some things will work out while others may fail,’ Doepfner, a former rock music critic, told reporters in Berlin. ‘Money follows attention — hopefully.’

“The publisher also said Wednesday it bought the remaining 15 percent in its digital classifieds unit from General Atlantic LLC for about 465 million euros ($508 million).”

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Chris Roush

Chris Roush was the dean of the School of Communications at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut. He was previously Walter E. Hussman Sr. Distinguished Professor in business journalism at UNC-Chapel Hill. He is a former business journalist for Bloomberg News, Businessweek, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Tampa Tribune and the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. He is the author of the leading business reporting textbook "Show me the Money: Writing Business and Economics Stories for Mass Communication" and "Thinking Things Over," a biography of former Wall Street Journal editor Vermont Royster.