The Business of Slow Journalism: Deep storytelling’s alternative economies

Abstract

This study examines the commercial viability of Slow Journalism in light of its recent efforts to reinvent the business model in the news industry today that relies heavily or exclusively on display advertising for revenue. Some Slow Journalism companies, such as De Correspondent and Delayed Gratification, have defiantly positioned themselves in opposition to advertising’s prominent role in mitigating free online news production and consumption, which they argue is both philosophically and financially anathema to the intimate journalist–reader interface. Still others, such as Narratively, have also eliminated display advertisements, but openly embrace brand sponsorship through events, creative agency, and native advertising. Touting visually pleasing high-end production values for immersive reading environments free of distracting display advertisements, many publishers promote a relation in which supply meets demand without undisclosed, conflicting third-party or corporate interest. This research explores the methods by which several prominent Slow Journalism organizations have mobilized a critique of corporate media to strategically communicate their maverick missions. The case studies examine Delayed Gratification, De Correspondent, Narratively, and The Big Roundtable as expressions of Slow Journalism’s experimental approaches to for-profit enterprise through alternative media business models.