Independent media outlets in markets considered unlikely for journalism supported by reader revenue are proving that subscriptions can work when built carefully and tested rigorously. The lesson from the two recent launches by MDIF clients is not that paywalls are easy. It is that hesitation about whether they are possible at all might be the bigger obstacle.
A few months ago, two MDIF clients in very different media markets launched subscriptions for different reasons. For Ukrainska Pravda, one of Ukraine’s most prominent news platforms, the decision to pivot to a paywall came after its Guardian-style membership program appeared to have saturated its growth potential.
To the southwest in Romania, HotNews arrived at the same conclusion from a different starting point. Advertising still accounts for 94% of the publisher’s revenues. It is not a declining stream, but the outlet chose to intentionally develop subscriptions before circumstances forced the move, as has been the case with so many independent outlets globally. Isabela Pop, Head of Audience Revenue at HotNews, said: “What made HotNews’s case different, and unusual in a global context, was that we weren’t doing this under pressure. It was an intentional management decision to explore audience revenue before it became existential. That gave us room to think, to test and to be wrong in controlled ways.”
Neither launch was comfortable. Four weeks before HotNews Premium went live, Isabela was told at a media gathering in Perugia that the model would “never work” in Romania. In Ukraine, the public reaction was sharper still. Despite preparing readers for nearly a year through an extensive banner campaign, Ukrainska Pravda faced a harsh public backlash, says Andrey Boborykin, the company’s Executive Director.
Today, both outlets have thousands of paying subscribers.
The models they chose
The two organizations built different products based on their contexts. Ukrainska Pravda uses a metered paywall, where all content remains free until a reader crosses a set threshold, at which point subscription prompts appear. HotNews Premium is a freemium model: a selection of articles each day, currently averaging eight, up from an initial plan of three, is reserved for paying subscribers, while the bulk of the roughly 100 daily articles remain open to everyone. HotNews Premium subscribers also receive access to exclusive newsletters, priority in the comments section and book discounts. Annual subscribers at €64 receive access to The New York Times as part of the package. Isabela has written in detail about how the NYT deal came together and what it did for HotNews’s paywall pivot here.
The process that made it possible
For any publication considering a comparable launch, the roadmap followed by HotNews offers a replicable structure if adapted well.
Start with audience research: A pre-launch questionnaire at HotNews revealed how much readers valued the comments section, which became a core product feature.
Work through the editorial logic of your product: Decide what sits behind the wall and what stays free.
Select a technology provider:HotNews chose ‘Piano’, the relatively more complex and expensive tech provider out of the two options available, because it provided more features.
Build a complete product: This step will require deliberate decision making on pricing, marketing and sales.
Test: HotNews found that testing consumed more time than they accounted for and this stage was highly valuable in creating a good end-product.
What the numbers say
Roughly two months after its late-April launch, Ukrainska Pravda has surpassed 3,000 subscribers. HotNews, about a month in, passed 1,500. A majority of HotNews subscribers chose the annual plan, a signal that the NYT bundle meaningfully shifted the value proposition. Talking about what the numbers mean for HotNews Premium, Isabela says, “This may not be a huge number by international comparison, but for us it is meaningful. HotNews is the first horizontal newsroom in Romania to try this and finding more than 1,500 people in a month who are willing to pay for quality journalism is encouraging.”
But the more durable change is cultural. Across both newsrooms, editorial staff no longer look only at traffic. Subscription and conversion numbers now sit alongside, and in some cases above, audience metrics as a measure of journalistic impact. Razvan Ionescu, Publisher and CEO of HotNews, calls this “a completely different paradigm”, one in which editorial work becomes even more central because every story now has the potential to deepen the relationship between journalism and its readers. “For me there is this feeling that we are changing the culture of media consumption in the country,” says Andrey from Ukrainska Pravda.
Razvan is measured about what comes next. This, he notes, is a “very long journey”. The destination, though, is already different from what it looked like before they started.
Talking about the core factor that helped both newsrooms kick-off their launch on a strong footing, MDIF Program Director, Marcin Gadzinski, who worked closely with both HotNews and Ukrainska Pravda, says: “If you claim that a reader revenue program is your future, mean it. Act like it. Show determination, pay, sometimes a costly, short-term price. Get everybody on board before the launch. You need alignment between top management, newsroom and business. This was our main message for Hotnews and Ukrainska Pravda for many months. And it worked – both launches were flawless, not only on the technical side, but more importantly they have built real engagement and determination on both newsroom’s side.”