Explainer Briefly Slides By Vivan Sharan and Mannat Marwah India’s digital news landscape reveals a stark divide: some are breaking subscription records, while others struggle to gain traction. Moneycontrol Pro recently became India’s first digital publication to surpass a million paying subscribers, securing its place among the world’s top 15 digital media platforms by subscription. Meanwhile, respected brands like the Financial Times (FT) face challenges in expanding beyond a subscriber base of 13,000 in the country.
Most Indian print publications have struggled with digital transformation — and every day examples like the failure of the FT to monetise are a convenient scapegoat. They reinforce common fallacies associated with the lack of digital transformation success in the news industry. Three such fallacies that are particularly popular and simultaneously counterproductive for the news industry.
Fallacy 1: With Abundant Free News, Why Pay? The widespread availability of free news may leave even the most analytical among us wondering why consumers should pay for content. We tend to rely on free sources of news, and social media (88%), YouTube (93%), and chat apps (82%) are among the most popular. However, could it be that the abundance of free sources makes editorial oversight and reliable content more valuable than ever? The unchecked nature of user-generated content on free platforms often leads to misinformation.
For instance, a 2024 report titled “From Smar.
