On the heels of another layoff-filled year for professional journalists (and an equally landmark one for digital hogwash), new reporting says that Apple wants to boost revenue by taking an even bigger part in how users get their news.
The Wall Street Journal's Benjamin Mullin, Lukas I. Alpert, and Tripp Mickle reported this week that Apple has pitched multiple news media companies on the idea of supplying content for an unlimited, "Netflix for news"-type subscription for iOS.
According to the Journal, news industry executives described a proposed service offering unlimited content from publishers, possibly to launch later this year, for a monthly fee similar to that of Apple's streaming music service. The report also stated that Apple intends — at least, as of now — to keep half of that fee, and divide up the rest among participating publishers based on users' engagement with their content.
Apple was reached out to for comment.
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The reporters also wrote that major outlets have expressed various objections to the terms so far, and/or the lack thereof. Some publishers reportedly have concerns about whether they'd have access to subscribers' data, including the info they normally use to market products and build their own customer bases.
If the numbers are correct, publishers would likely also be concerned about the 50-50 payment split, given the comparative level of effort required of each party. As CNBC's Sara Salinas pointed out, for one, "The deal would offer publishers significantly less than they make through their own subscription services today. For instance, the [Journal] charges more than $20 a month for various digital subscriptions."
At the same time, the Journal reporters wrote, digital platforms offer "a huge opportunity" for publishers looking for paying readers.
Assuming Apple's standards for content on Apple News (enforced by humans as well as algorithms) aren't exactly the same as individual publishers', the latter will probably lose a number of extra nickels each month from censored content, too. As a digital journalist, I can also personally confirm that those nickels add up fast — or, increasingly, they don't.
Check out the rest of the Wall Street Journal team's reporting here.
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