Independent News & Media (INM) has signed up 6,953 paying subscribers following its decision to introduce an editorial paywall for the Irish Independent, its publisher has confirmed. Speaking at the Marketing Institute’s DMX annual conference in the Aviva Stadium, Mediahuis’s Peter Vandermeersch said the move to a paywall was “going well”.
Vandermeersch said trust more anything was what defined journalism today. Fake news, influencers and “monopolists like Facebook” were undermining public trust in the media. Reports pointed to low levels of confidence in news media around the world. Media owners can build trust by separating fact from opinion and focusing on investigative journalism.
Focus group studies have indicated that people see the Irish Independent as “relevant, relatable and reliable”. The ‘Indo’ was different to other media players in the market in claiming all three attributes and it was something they intended capitalising on. The former NRC Handelsblad editor said INM will largely follow the Mediahuis digital model.
Vandermeersch believes there is a market for weekend ‘viewspapers’ like the Sunday Independent. where columnists like Eoghan Harris have a polarising effect. Journalists need to be more humble and hold their hands up when they get it wrong. With the proliferation of fake news, there is a greater need than ever for quality journalism, he added.
