Emerson Collective, The Atlantic and Paywalls
Laurene Powell Jobs is my subject of interest this week.
LPJ is a role model for what successful people can do, when they chose to engage with the world's problems rather than trying to insulate themselves from them.
LPJ came to my attention in the context of a news article that mentioned Emerson Collective’s investment in The Atlantic magazine.
For some time, technology money has been moving into traditional media.
Jeff Bezos bought the Washington Post from the Graham family for $250M.
Marc and Lynne Benioff bought Time Magazine from Meredith for $190M.
Through Emerson Collective, LPJ bought The Atlantic from David Bradley for more than $100M.
I have worked with Atlantic Media on/off during the Bradley years and know a little about the challenging balance they hold between (a) living up to the ideals of their founder, transcendentalist Ralph Waldo Emerson and (b) running a for-profit business funded largely by advertising revenue which is digitalizing.
It’s not that LPJ's involvement is a charitable contribution. Emerson Collective is a philanthropy-minded investment firm. They expect a return. But investments like this require the magazine to live up to its societal purpose, which goes beyond printing ads with magazines wrapped around them.
In this case, if successful, Emerson Collective gets more than a return on their capital. They get to directly continue the work of their namesake transcendentalist.
Here is how Emerson Collective explains their investments in media and journalism:
Despite the massive changes and challenges, we believe entrepreneurs will build the next generation of innovative businesses, reshaping how media is consumed. We also believe emerging artists and voices will usher in a new era of important work. Emerson Collective invests in storytelling and journalism that pursues truth, sparks action, and contributes to a more just society.
Since taking the investment, The Atlantic has made major changes to its talent profile (17 of 23 senior editors are now women) and its digital platform (digital audience grew 35% in 2019) and is about to make another big one (introducing a reader-pays model via a paywall).
Given that print sales are down over 10%, there is no better time than now.
A reader-first business model that includes the digital product feels right for right now. Digital readership is where the growth is. And it frees them from being “owned” by advertisers.
Emerson Collective has made other investments in media companies including Pop Up Magazine/California Sunday Magazine. And maybe there will be others. The New York Times is nearly always mentioned in discussions of Emerson Collective’s investments in media and journalism.
Thinking of it from this angle, there is a distinctly Apple-y feel to this. Among the GAFA they are the only ones who have based their content/service offering fully on a user-pays model.
There are “tiger pits” when it comes to tech money in traditional media. One cautionary tale is Chris Hughes’ troubled investment in The New Republic. Instead of the growth story he wanted, he was left with was what has been described as “a shell of a brand, wrapped up in liabilities”.
I don’t want that for either Emerson Collective or The Atlantic. I really hope their tie-up works because the world needs The Atlantic as least as much as it needs Facebook, Amazon and Google.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laurene_Powell_Jobs
