Gem in the making? How Mill Media is extracting journalism gold, locally

Mill Media, a small independent news outlet in the UK, has become a case study in local news media startups, having generated a growing subscriber base along with endorsement and investment from some of the biggest names in media practice, and a capital injection to launch new local outlets and double its staff complement.

All this, from a humble start as aSubstack-based newsletter that focuses on quality journalism, not volume.

Founded by journalistJoshi Herrmannduring lockdown in 2020, Manchester-based The Millbecame fully sustainable through reader subscriptions in just over a year. It has since expanded into Liverpool with The Post; Sheffield with The Tribune, and Birmingham with The Dispatch. London is now also on Hermann's radar. Mill Media now boasts more than 8,000 subscribers and a 110,000+ strong mailing list across the four titles.

Subscription rates vary across cities, from between £7 and £8.90 per month.

Read more about The Mill's conversion funnel model.

Endorsed by esteemed media leaders including Tina Brown, former Editor in Chief of Tattler and Vanity Fair,and The Wall Street Journal'sEditor in Chief, Emma Tucker, Herrmann last year raised £350,000 from an impressive group of private investors, notable for their links to news media.

These include Axios Publisher Nicholas Johnston, Demotix Founder Turi Munthe, David Rosenberg of Snap Inc and CNN Chief Executive Mark Thompson, who previously headed the BBC and The New York Times.

Mill Media is now looking at launching in London and Glasgow by October, and increasing their full time staff from 11 to 22 by the end of the year.

Joshi Herrmann chatted to the World Editors Forum about journalism making a difference.

You started out a time when many individuals - from influencers to experienced journalists - created their own digital news outputs, on various platforms. What, do you think, differentiates you - and what advice to local news startups on achieving similar successes?

I think what distinguishes us is that we really invested in great writing. We care about how things are written; we don't care about the internet orthodoxy that dictates about five seconds of video and limited text.

Other digital innovations push content, rather than quality. We believe it's worth editing and guiding a story because, ultimately, people still love that stuff.

We focus on the stories theyspend more time reading.

For newsrooms, I'd say: Try to create content that is distinctive; completely different from what's out there…

A great example is the story by four students from the University of Manchester, about what it's like to be astudent during the pandemic: the dating, parties, friendships… It was one of the most unusual pieces we published, and also the most interesting. You would not read that anywhere else.

You've been steadily growing readership - and subscribers - at a time when news avoidance is on the increase and trust is at an all-time low. You also interact readily with your audiences - what key learnings can you share on audience reach and engagement for newsrooms?

I think interacting with the audience is important, but it's not the most important - what's most important is quality. There are plenty of mediocre sites that have big followings but if you want to build a community of people who care, what you do has to be amazing. Build a community around that.

'We have no engagement metrics. We are not sophisticated with data; if we get 50-60 comments, we think we're doing great.'

And: What possibilities does this spark for the future of community or local journalism - and the profession as a whole?

There's a lot of opportunity in refocusing journalism around quality instead of volume. The internet has forced publishers into thinking volumes; this is a trap.

Each individual story is distinctive, and offers real opportunity, with online subscriptions, to deliver directly to your readers, and to publish really unusual, distinctive stories - whether a human story, or an investigation - stories you are unlikely to find on any other local news website.

'There's a potential new golden age for journalism here.'

Share your thinking on Mill Media's personalised approach

It's most important that editors decide what to publish, and content is not led by audience preferences. As a newsroom, you hire the bestwriters and editors, and you should trust your editors to find interesting stories, not through crowdfunding exercises or community talking shops. Ultimately journalists, led by editors, should be deciding what to cover - not your audiences.'

Collaboration is seen as a key solution in discussions on the future of media. What possibilities for other newsroom collaborations - such as with The Wimble?

I'm not so sure about collaboration being a solution; I think independent newsrooms have to remain independent. WithThe Wimble, we are acting as consultants, helping them get a great product off the ground, leveraging our expertise, and knowledge about running newsletters. We're very happy with how it's going; within the first month, we got 1,500 email subscribers.

Lucinda Jordaan

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