The Information, one year in, continues subscription model

Ricardo Bilton of Digiday writes about The Information, a tech news site launched a year ago by former Wall Street Journal reporter Jessica Lessin that charges $399 a year for its content.

Bilton writes, “The Information, along with sites like The Daily Dish, were betting that they could build a digital media model based solely on direct revenue from subscribers, even if that inevitably meant smaller audiences.

“A little over a year later, The Information has a subscriber base ‘in the low thousands’ according to Lessin, with executives in finance, technology and media. It has recruited top journalists like former Wall Street Journal editor Martin Peers and Amir Efrati. And it has broken stories such as Google’s Dropcam acquisition, Amazon’s deal to buy Twitch and an inside look at Disney’s move to buy Maker Studios.

“Now, the question is less about sustainability but whether such a model can support an ambitious, sizable journalistic operation. In comparison, The Information has a five-person newsroom while Business Insider boasts 90. In all, The Information has nine employees.

“‘Audience obviously matters in the media business. You write stories to make an impact,’ Lessin said.’But we’ve always deeply believed that quality over quantity is the way to go. We want to grow our audience, but we’re not hung up on eyeballs.'”

Read more here.