Complete Story
06/25/2015
Doctor: 10 numbers that define the news business today
We’re bombarded by endless numbers every day — some claiming the exalted status of metrics or, even higher, benchmarks. It’s tough for any of us to figure out which — ARPU? TOS? post-click activity? — are meaningful and which will go down in news transformation history as footnotes. For me, making sense of the numbers helps bring a little order to the chaos.
On Wednesday, I spoke to a Media Impact Funders group in Menlo Park, right there on Sand Hill Road, where so much venture money flows into would-be high-flying companies. This funders group, though, represents the journalism grantmakers — the foundations that have searched for and paid for much of the experimentation of the past decade.
In 15 minutes, I shared with them 10 numbers that I think tell us where we’re at today, in yet another uncertain time for the “future of news.” So, here, for your summer beach thinking, are a few numbers that deserve our attention. It’s not an eternal top 10 list; it’s a list of the moment, guaranteed to change. I welcome your additions.
