News publishers across Africa face a stark paradox. Audiences still trust their brands, yet few are willing to pay for news. That tension is forcing media houses to reinvent how they make money, moving beyond advertising into a web of diversified revenue streams.

Basil Fortuin, head of digital strategy at Media24 in South Africa, set out how the organisation is navigating such a landscape during this week’s INMA Africa Media Revenue Summit. Fortuin focused on revenue diversification and building a successful media business for the future.

“If we look at the news media today and where we are, we know that revenue is down, we know that most of the revenue across the continent is going to the big social platforms,” Fortuin said. “Paid social media is set on a trajectory to surpass Google search within the next five years.”

Newsrooms in many places are getting smaller even as expectations grow. Media24, he said, has been fortunate to invest heavily in its newsrooms over the past two to three years. In 2012, the newsroom had fewer than 50 people. Today it has more than 100 journalists and other staff, he said: “We are really investing in our newsroom.”

The business model mix

He described the “reader trust paradox.”

Audiences trust news brands but are not willing to pay for news. Citing a Kenyan statistic that only 13% of people surveyed said they would pay, he argued that a news business must have multiple revenue streams.

“Having multiple revenue streams as a news business is no longer an option … . It is absolutely you must,” he said. 

Diversification, in his view, is the new normal, reducing dependency and risk. As an example, he pointed to the danger of relying on government advertising when it can take more than 780 days to be paid. If half of a company’s revenue came from the government, he said, “you will not have the news business in two years time.”

Fortuin listed reader revenue — subscriptions, memberships, donations, whatever model is chosen — as essential: “You need to get people to start paying for your news because they trust you.”

Advertising, he argued, is not going away, but display advertising is likely to shrink while native advertising, commercial content, and branded content are where the money is and must be handled correctly within any diversification strategy. Events and community initiatives, content syndication, and affiliate revenue also formed part of the mix.

He cited a New York Times Wirecutter‑style model — where publishers review products and receive a percentage when readers buy — and urged newsrooms to think about classifieds, jobs, notices, and tenders as additional pockets of revenue.  

On subscriptions, Fortuin said different models exist and each publisher must find what works.

Media24, News24, and Netwerk24 are premium paid Web sites, operating a model in which high‑quality content sits behind a paywall. Bundling is another tactic. Fortuin highlighted a Globetrotter offer in which a News24 subscription is combined with a New York Times subscription in a single package.

He urged publishers to “see how you can mix it up” within each revenue stream, including events, asking what else can unlock value for readers and the business.

Fortuin said CPMs (cost per mille) are declining every year, and there has not been a single rate increase in display eCPMs in the past decade. Google search and social media giants are driving rates down, and cookie deprecation will make serving ads harder and impact effective rates, he said.

Yet there are also opportunities.

Revenue diversification

Fortuin listed several diversification options:

• First‑party data, collected through events registrations, Webinars, and registration walls, is “absolutely gold.” Publishers, he said, must collect anonymised data that allows for effective targeting while respecting regulation.

• Contextual advertising is coming back, and is now AI‑driven, he said. Media24 has built an in‑house contextual targeting AI tool, allowing the company to place motoring ads on motoring articles or car insurance ads on car content without relying on third‑party technology.

• Direct‑sold campaigns are very important. He urged leaders not to underestimate the value of sales teams. 

• Partnerships with agencies and advertisers were also an important strand in revenue generation.

“It’s about co-creating branded content with your partners out there,” Fortuin said. “A very important thing is that custom research. You know more about your readers and your audience than anybody else. Why not leverage that audience insight? Why not do custom research for your clients using your own audience?”

• On branded content, Fortuin sees a massive opportunity: “You have to clearly label that it’s branded content, that it’s sponsored, that it’s partner content, or that it’s an advertisement. Editorial independence remains sacred. We cannot mix the two.”

He further stressed that readers should not see a dodgy or watered‑down promotional article next to an award‑winning piece. 

• Events are another revenue source. Fortuin referred to News24’s “Fund Hub,” investment industry awards, business awards and “On the Record” events engaging parliamentarians, politicians and NGOs on questions like how to create five million jobs in ten years.

Events can make money through sponsorship, co‑sponsorship, or ticket sales, with some topics better suited to one model than the other. The key is that an event must resonate with the audience and the brand, Fortuin said: “You don’t want to do something that is not close to your brand.”

Creating sustainability with trust at the core

On investment, he said media companies cannot “just invest money into tech and not know what we are trying to do.”

For Media24, one of the biggest investments in the past five years was introducing a paywall for News24. The Web site had been free for almost 20 years, and switching to paid was a major risk taken in stages.

News24 now runs one of the most successful English paywall news sites on the continent, he said. Other investments include CRM (Customer Relationship Management) systems, analytics, ad stacks, and personalisation technology. 

Fortuin also addressed the relationship between editorial and commercial teams. Editorial, must understand business model constraints and where opportunity lies, while maintaining independence and standards. Commercial must respect editorial integrity and not dictate coverage.

The core purpose of editorial, he said, is to create value readers are willing to pay for independent of commercial influence, and commercial teams must resist blurring the lines. 

Fortuin further emphasised that trust of the readers is the most valuable asset: “If we play in the news business. People come to us because they trust us. Don't misuse that trust ... . Once you lose that trust. You are not gonna get that reader back again.”

Fortuin reiterated core points for building a sustainable, long‑term news business. Multiple revenue streams reduce risk, and diversification is essential. Models must put the audience first and not neglect them. Premium journalism should command premium pricing, partnerships should be strategically and values aligned.

And publishers must be agile, willing to “test, learn, adapt quickly,” accepting that some things will fail. “Integrity, trust is the foundation, and we have to protect it as a news business,” Fortuin said. “Because without that trust, we don’t have a business.”

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