The Guardian’s head of client sales says the Internet is turning digital on its head. But which publisher has the right formula to capitalize on that?

Originally published in Communicate, May 2010

Mark Finney, head of client sales at UK publishing house Guardian News and Media (GNM), spoke about “digital revolutions” at the recent Dubai Lynx. The Internet is changing the way we consume print, and publishers around the world are trying out different revenue models. Media mogul Rupert Murdoch is preparing to charge for access to online content across all his News Corp titles, but the Guardian’s online presence is remaining resolutely paywall-free.
The newspaper’s print circulation is currently around 400,000, and falling, as is the case with virtually all print dailies around the world. But Guardian.co.uk boasts 36 million readers internationally, including 12 million in the UK. Finney won’t reveal GNM’s turnover from its print titles, but says the digital side of the business makes around £25 million per year. We asked him about the changing business of print. Read the rest of this entry »