Despite the various degrees of content limitation and changes Southeast Asia media are facing, all online media in the region, and probably globally, are now struggling financially.

As social media have now become the main platforms, they have also become main sources of revenues for many media providers. They are now looking for new market opportunities to finance their work, while staying independent and credible in a financial crisis.

“We can’t sell news but we can sell platforms.”

For the past 25 years, Indonesia has had freedom in delivering news and criticism about the government, a world of difference from the time when Suharto was in power. Their current challenges lie in generating income and transforming business models.

Indonesia’s online media company and researcher in business and economics, Katadata is generating income from alternative markets, apart from journalism. They opened a Business Research and Data communications department for clients, so they can continue creating “quality journalism”, which bears high cost, reaches only a niche audience but, nonetheless, has an impact on society.

 “We create a new business model that focuses on data presentation and management. The aim of the research is to support the company or clients in creating communication material for the campaign…we use our expertise in journalism to create the content that fits with communication for the campaign. 60-70% of our income comes from this business model. This helps to finance the journalism for our organisation,” said Adek Wahyudi, chief operating officer of Katadata.

Subscription Model

VietnamPlus also explored new markets by generating income from “high-quality content”, such as in-depth stories and exclusive interviews. Their targets being researchers and students. VietnamPlus, a government agency which functions as a state world news provider, is the first in Vietnam to apply a policy that requires readers to pay for high-quality content.

Though it is not their main source of income, according to Do Minh Thu, a senior journalist, VietnamPlus has created a habit for users to pay for high-quality content.

It is important for online media providers to adapt to new business models which can help them survive, but it is as important to maintain their journalistic ethics and standards while generating income and not allowing capitalist and political agenda to be hidden in any news piece.

Read part I: Survival of Online Media: Changing Content Strategies at: https://www.thaipbsworld.com/survival-of-online-media-changing-content-strategies/

By Atikan Kulsakdinun