Journalism has a funding problem. Journalists are losing their jobs as a result. News businesses have tried various models to sustain their operations, while the Australian government has also attempted to address it through initiatives like the News Media Bargaining Code and the News Media Assistance Program.
One underexplored funding strategy for journalism is the youtuber business model. The growth of youtuber journalism indicates that this is a viable option for funding video journalism, especially long-form journalism.
In my PhD research I have identified two key elements of this business model: diversified revenue streams, and youtuber presentation styles and production norms.
Diversified income is a prominent feature of the youtuber model. While YouTube ad money is important as a revenue stream, it is unpredictable and insufficient. The bulk of revenue comes from audience contributions, generally via Patreon. In-video sponsorships are also an important part of the mix, and merchandise is a minor revenue stream.
Presentation style is an essential part of this business model. It is more than simply uploading videos to YouTube. The videos need to be made specifically for YouTube.
A professional youtuber goes out of their way to avoid looking like polished corporate media. There is generally a main presenter, and the rest of the team is hidden all or most of the time. The tone is conversational and the outfits are generally quite casual. Editing styles and production techniques differ from those of other news media formats and genres. The set is low budget, backgrounds are simple, for example bookshelves illuminated by bisexual lighting. Editing involves jump cuts, zoom cuts, and text directly addressing the viewer, especially to explain a mistake or update. All this gives a sense of authenticity and allows trust to be built over time.
The youtuber business model, including these presentation norms, is being adopted by some professional but now-independent journalists. Michael West and John Cadogan have several decades of combined experience as journalists across print, TV, and radio. West prioritises YouTube as it attracts up to four times as many eyeballs as articles on his news website do. Cadogan emphasises the importance of authenticity for audiences when he says his videos ‘get TV type numbers worth of views because of authenticity’.
Also, many youtubers, who once focused solely on education or entertainment, are now regularly producing journalism. These youtubers are adopting professional journalistic norms, such as factchecking, to produce fact-based stories on issues of public interest.
We can therefore see a convergence, where certain youtubers and journalists are evolving towards each other‑ towards what I suggest is a new journalism format, platform journalism.
Interestingly, there are signs that some in mainstream news organisations are taking the youtuber presentation style seriously, even if they are unlikely to fully embrace the business model. The ABC’s Media Bites is an example. However, major news organisations such as the ABC and Sky News dramatically underperform in views compared to youtubers with similar subscriber counts. Not fully adopting youtuber norms could be the reason. A perceived lack of authenticity could be another. Small news media outlets and independent journalists are better positioned to use YouTube effectively compared to large news corporations as they have fewer bureaucratic hurdles and are more likely to come across as an authentic, non-corporate youtuber.
In any case, the market for online news videos is growing. There is audience demand for journalism presented in the youtuber style. And when the diversified revenue stream is applied there is profit potential. By adopting the ways of youtubers, journalists just might reach more of their audience, and make a profit doing it.
Chris Hall, UTS HDR Student