5280 is a lifestyle magazine serving the Denver market. The title’s editor and publisher, Daniel Brogran, writing in Folio describes his magazine’s commitment to investigative journalism.
To do this kind of work, we’ve had to more than triple our staff and increase our editorial budget by nearly $1 million per year. But we’ve seen a tremendous return on our investment.
In the last four years, 5280’s paid subscriptions have grown by more than 50 percent, while our newsstand sales have grown by a similar amount. In that same time period we’ve more than doubled our ad revenue.
To sell ads, you’ve got to attract a worthwhile audience. To attract an audience, you’ve got to give them compelling content. All of which convinces me that good journalism can be good business.
In related news, Gawker wants to start providing hard news. Given that Nick Denton has a background as a real journalist, this new direction for the gossip-infested blog is hardly a surprise.
