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Reader donations were the main revenue stream of this Polish investigative outlet. But round-the-clock coverage led to 75% more one-off contributions.
This case study is part of Resilience Reports, a series from the European Journalism Centre about how news organizations across Europe are adjusting their daily operations and business strategies as a result of the COVID-19 crisis.
In a nutshell: A mix of search-friendly articles and in-depth coverage — both written and audio — are helping this Polish investigative news outlet expand beyond its traditional audience
Across Europe, economic difficulties brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic have deterred readers from financially supporting news media.
In the case of the Polish investigative nonprofit OKO.press, however, the opposite happened. A surge of organic traffic to its COVID-19 coverage and a focus on fact-checking politicians saw growth from an unlikely audience and a 75% increase in one-off donations. Regular donations also increased by 25%.
Here, Tara Kelly from the European Journalism Centre looks at what the team did to get people to dip into their pockets and what they learned from the first six months of 2020.
Founded in June 2016, OKO.press is Poland’s first nonprofit investigative journalism site. Its goal is to promote democratic values, human rights and government transparency. It does so by publishing fact checks, investigations and analysis about the state of politics in Poland.
Employing 28 people, OKO.press was the 2020 recipient of Index on Censorship’s prestigious Freedom of Expression Award Fellowship for Journalism.
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Read more here: https://www.poynter.org/business-work/2020/reader-funded-journalism-in-a-crisis-lessons-from-oko-press/