Product is a relatively new term in the news space, particularly for smaller, independent newsrooms. For newsrooms that are working against a variety of odds — ranging from running operations on a shoestring budget and fighting court cases by legacy media to withstanding the pressures of the government — shipping products or apps is hardly a priority.

At Newslaundry, our newsroom is no different. But what sets us apart is that as an ad-free, subscription-driven outlet, our readers are front and centre in our journalism. From day one, we saw subscribers as an intrinsic part of the stories we wanted to put out. We knew relying on ads would limit our journalism and compromise our editorial freedom; that’s why subscriptions were baked into our DNA.

The secret sauce to our success with shipping products also goes back to our subscription model. As one of the early adopters of the subscription model and multiple content formats (we started subscriptions in 2013 and podcasts in 2015), tech and product experience was pivotal to our journalism and business.

Listening to users

For a long time, we weren’t big proponents of developing an app. With limited bandwidth, working on an app when you have a long feature list for the Web site doesn’t make sense. As we started putting our podcast shows behind the paywall, we realised browsers can only go so far to offer a seamless paywall podcast experience.

As a result, our listeners, who until then could listen to our podcasts on platforms like Spotify and Apple Podcast, wrote to us about the need for an app that offered a seamless listening experience for paywall podcasts. But rolling out an app at a resource-starved, independent newsroom requires a big budget, so we turned to our readers.

We launched a crowdfunding campaign to fund the app’s initial development and engineering cost. In less than two months, we had more than 500 readers, contributing INR 1.5 million (US$18,217).

It took more than a year to build the app and months to fine-tune, debug, test, and reiterate. Along the way, our subscribers didn’t just fund the app development; they also tested features and helped us improve the user experience.

While apps are common, what’s unique is how a community of news consumers funded and helped build an app. And we couldn’t be prouder of our subscribers.

By readers, for readers

The Newslaundry app packs a bunch of features you will often don’t make the cut in news apps: a range of in-app payment options, custom notifications, a podcast player, and add-ons such as bookmarks and the dark mode.

Our app puts user choice at the centre, from letting them delete their profile and cancel their subscription to deciding what they want to be notified about. (Who doesn’t hate endless news notifications you never signed up for?)

Most news apps look at app experience as the distribution of their content. This perspective often comes at the cost of user convenience. From lacking customisation and basic accessibility to poor podcast listening controls, features central to user needs (and ones we take for granted when using non-news apps) are often missing.

We took a different approach and found success because when we sat down, we wanted to design a product that serves and engages our subscribers — not just another platform to distribute our content.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .