In our search for business models to revitalize the U.S. news industry, we need to exhaust all possible examples. And then we will shamelessly copy the successful ones!
Today we examine the Kyiv Independent.
Running a successful independent news organization in a war zone is even more challenging than doing so in more peaceful quarters. In such wars, travel can be restricted, and reporters risk their lives when reporting. Censorship is an ever-present danger. Advertising revenue is scarce since wars disrupt economies so that companies within those countries will not exactly be searching to spend advertising dollars appealing to readers who must prioritize survival needs over new clothes, furniture, or cars. Readers may grab at headlines from fighting at first, but demand is likely to fall off as war fatigue sets in.
If the Kyiv Independent can survive under such difficult conditions, what lessons might be applicable to local news in the U.S.? Four areas of innovation deserve examination. First, it is worker-owned and -operated. Second, it has expanded over its short lifetime while news organizations around the world are cutting staff. Third, it is pioneering new approaches to membership. Fourth, it is building trust with its audience.
KI was founded in November 2021 by the former staff of the pro-Western English-language Kyiv Post who had been fired over “editorial disagreements” that may have been linked to articles critical of the owner’s other businesses and his relationship with the government. Thirty of the fifty fired employees immediately launched a new organization, Kyiv Independent, to ply their trade. The founding employees didn’t want to be owned by a rich owner or oligarch who would impose interests or whims on editorial decisions. As employees state in a promotional YouTube video, “there is only us and you.”
In three years and nine months, KI has built a news organizations with 21,000 paying members and 70 employees (a newsroom of 40 people). It is developing a B2B information service like Politico Pro and The Economist Intelligence Unit. 90% of the audience is outside Ukraine.
Kyiv Independent started operations with crowdfunding via GoFundMe on the Patreon platform. This was an effective means to jumpstart the operation, but it was not a long-term business model. Grants from the Canadian government and USAID helped pay employees. Still, the organization needed a sustainable business model.
At KI, all content is free, largely in the interest of providing news on the war. Yet, subscriptions from what they call “members” provide 70% of overall revenues. The remainder comes from a small amount of advertising, content syndication, and KI Insights, a tailored research service marketed to embassies and companies, digging deeply into such topics as the Ukrainian drone industry, reconstruction efforts, and the healthcare sector. According to its website, KI has 2.6 million social media followers, a website audience of 4.5 million, 269,000 YouTube subscribers, 226,000 newsletter recipients, and 21,000 paying members
KI has five tiers of members – Supporter ($5/month), Champion ($10), Believer ($30), Insider ($50), and Partner ($100) who receive exclusive benefits. They get ad-free content and discounts on swag. They gain access to a chatroom on KI’s Discord account where they can discuss current events, pitch stories, and even share memes. All questions from members are answered by KI staff, and members in the highest two tiers have a direct line to editors. All tiers even provide weekly Ukrainian lessons with a language tutor.
KI strives to maintain a high level of transparency in order to build trust and a sense of community between and among its staff and its members. All members get a weekly newsletter on what the news organization had accomplished in the week as well as behind-the-scenes updates of its office. Staff listen to readers on their coverage, discuss decision-making in covering stories, and help each other process the often-traumatic effects of covering those stories. They discuss internal struggles within the organization. As KI’s COO explained, “What we’ve understood is actually the more we show the internal stuff from the Kyiv Independent, the better emotional connection we can build with these people.” The strength of the KI community is reflected in the low churn rate of 1.6% monthly, lower than figures from most other news outlets based on subscriptions. (The International News Media Alliance estimated median monthly churn for digital news outlets is 3.6%.)
KI decided from the beginning to publish in English, not Ukrainian. The founders saw it as building support for the country’s defense against Russia and a bridge to the world among the various diplomatic corps and global think tanks. The English language is also increasingly important in the country’s developing tech sector. KI has become a trusted source for foreign media covering the war.
Perhaps because it was a startup, KI has been nimble in its decision making. In 2022, shortly after KI’s founding, it got a majority of new members through social media. Then Meta altered its algorithms, and KI shifted quickly to email marketing and newsletters. Twitter was very important at the launch but has become less important, especially after the Musk takeover. The goal was to be everywhere – Bluesky, Mastodon, Telegram, Reddit, Facebook, and TikTok. Currently, YouTube is the fastest growing source for new members (click here for the YouTube channel). The COO suggests that every 6-9 months KI needs to reinvent itself.
Ironically and tragically, the Russian invasion was a boon for KI. Twitter followers rose from 30,000 to 1 million just 3 days into the conflict in February 2022 and 2 million a month later. Yet, the news organization realized that it needed to both report the present and build for the future. From the beginning, it had coverage of the business community and cultural events. In August 2024, it added a travel section (“Dare to Ukraine”). Despite international fatigue with the Ukraine war, interest in KI has expanded to 6 million users and close to 20 million page views per month.
Lessons for the U.S.
1. Membership can create a stronger community than a simple subscription model. It brings a sense of ownership since members pay a regular fee and receive benefits in turn. Member benefits can nurture that community.
2. Demonstrating commitment to reader interests is all-important. Any query from a reader should get a response.
3. Don’t underestimate showing behind-the-scenes decisions on how local news is covered. Such transparency creates trust.
4. Be specific about the audience, especially core readers. Think about developing community around a common theme. For KI, it is currently the war but when the war ends could develop travel-Ukraine or invest-in-Ukraine themes. For South Bend, Indiana, it could be nearby University of Notre Dame, but it could also be about economic development. In rural Wyoming, it could be the economics of ranching but also about mining.
Comparative Perspectives
This is the inaugural article in an occasional series we will call “Comparative Perspectives.” The issues facing the news industry transcend international borders, and potential business strategies to produce sustainable local news can be found abroad as well as at home.
Interesting note on USAID’s support in getting KI started- an example of the amazing projects that support free speech and democracy abroad that we lose with USAID’s closure.