It may be a re-work of news-wire style journalism, but US start-up Axios Media is getting attention and success in what could be a future model for traditional media.
Last week the New York Times reported that in under five years Axios had grown to over 400 employees and 34 national and global newsletters, all based on a unique type of ‘short form’ journalism it calls ‘smart brevity’.
What to know:
It is journalist focused (no AI authors and original content gathered by professional journalists); aims to be devoid of all opinion (try that one News Ltd); and offers bite sized chunks of information based on consistent headings.
Why it matters:
Created for smart phones and the ADD generation, its business model is advertising based, but strictly separated from editorial offering advertisers a nativist ‘smart brevity’ style adapted for text, video and podcast content.
Go deeper
Too early to say it will succeed, but its content and growth to date is compelling. In my opinion its most exciting application may be for local or community news (Axios Local) and business publications (Axios Industry). It’s great to see new traditional media business models emerging and it will be fascinating to see how this might grow outside the US.