elDiario.es grew 30% to 100,000+ 'partners' who pay for this FREE publication

͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­

	Forwarded this email? Subscribe here for more You’re reading the My News Biz newsletter, which I will be sending you every other Thursday. My goal is to help you and other digital media entrepreneurs to find a viable business model that works for you. If you were forwarded this email, you can sign up here. Bonus: Trustworthy news thrives in Spain elDiario.es grew 30% to 100,000+ 'partners' who pay for this FREE publication James Breiner Jul 2   READ IN APP   You’re reading the Your News Biz newsletter. My goal is to help digital media entrepreneurs find viable business models. This is a bonus post, for all of you looking for points of light The 2025 Digital News Report of the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism arrived in my mailbox a week ago. At almost the same time came the latest financial transparency report of elDiario.es, a daily investigative news outlet in Spain. Both told the same story in different ways. Founder and CEO Ignacio Escolar, who authored the transparency report, trumpeted in his headline, “elDiario.es, a news publication protected by its community.” He argues that the readers who pay for the publication give it the financial independence to protect it from political and commercial interests. Ignacio Escolar, founder and CEO of elDiario.es First, the trajectory of the publication’s growth (below) should be a cause for applause. It started from scratch in 2013 and reached 105,000 paying “partners” (socios y socias) at the end of May. Headline below: “The growth in the number of partners of elDiario.es” First, highlights from elDiario.es At a time when many news media were laying people off or shutting down, elDiario was debt-free and profitable. Total revenue grew 12.8% to 15.5 million euros ($18.3 million) in 2024, and it had a surplus or profit of 1.53 million euros ($1.8 million). Advertising revenues make up half the total, reader payments almost 40%. The average partner pays 71.5 euros ($85) annually, and another 10,720 pay 100 euros ($118). Escolar attributed the growth of more than 30% in paying readers to a series of exclusive investigative stories. (That’s why I’m a paying partner.) elDiario finished 2024 with 92 journalists on staff and another 47 support staff in sales, marketing, events, technology, and administration. This is much larger than many large metropolitan dailies in the U.S. Disclosure: I’ve been a paying partner for a half-dozen years. I admire the way this staff gives a voice to the voiceless, reveals abuse of power, and relentlessly pushes for change. Among the most read The Reuters report looked at the state of digital journalism in 48 media markets on six continents. It included a detailed report on Spain, prepared by my former colleagues at the University of Navarra. Among their findings: The survey showed that elDiario.es ranked among the top 6 most read online publications among Spanish news media (graphic below). Another point of light: Media lessons from Ukraine: People pay for trustworthy news Leave a comment Thanks for reading Your News Biz! This post is public so feel free to share it. Share Your News Biz is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Upgrade to paid You're currently a free subscriber to Your News Biz. For the full experience, upgrade your subscription. Upgrade to paid   Like Comment Restack   © 2025 James Breiner 548 Market Street PMB 72296, San Francisco, CA 94104 Unsubscribe