A version of this article was published earlier, and is now updated. Prior to the coronavirus outbreak, publishers were already pivoting to subscriptions. At the start of the year, the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism (RISJ), found that 50% of digital leaders identified reader revenue as their major income focus for 2020. “Reader revenue specifically, has very positive prospects,” Jon Slade, the FT’s Chief Commercial Officer, told RISJ, as part of their annual predictions report. “Advertising revenue remains a major concern,” he noted. Those concerns have multiplied in a COVID world, where advertising spend has been decimated, making…
