Maybe Information Actually Doesn’t Want to Be Free

Maybe Information Actually Doesn’t Want to Be Free

Jessica Lessin’s online tech publication costs $399 a year and has no ads. Silicon Valley’s(ˈvalē) elite(āˈlēt,əˈlēt) is eating it up.

By Edmund(ˈedmənd) Lee

Jessica Lessin thinks the biggest story of the moment — how tech is swallowing(ˈswälō) the universe(ˈyo͞onəˌvərs) — is hopelessly under-covered by the news media. The issue(ˈiSHo͞o) is “massive,” she said not long ago in her spare(spe(ə)r), cube-like office here, and “no one is paying attention.”

Of course, it can be hard to see the forest(ˈfär-,ˈfôrəst) for the tweets(twēt). From analysis(əˈnaləsəs) of Trump’s utterances(ˈədərəns) to conspiracy(kənˈspirəsē)-peddling(ˈpedl) publishers amplifying(ˈampləˌfī) themselves on Facebook and YouTube, tech stories increase exponentially(ˌekspəˈnen(t)SHəlē) every day. But Ms. Lessin, founder of The Information, an influential(ˌinflo͞oˈenCHəl) Silicon Valley publication, thinks most reporters are still focusing on the wrong topics: glamorous(ˈglamərəs) cryptocurrency(ˈkriptōˌkərənsē), for example, rather than the blockchain looming(lo͞om) over bank loans(lōn) and stock trades(trād); or the number of cars sold, rather than the artificial intelligence and driver networks that threaten(ˈTHretn ) to make that number obsolete(ˌäbsəˈlēt).

She has focused her site on the larger picture, pursuing industry scoops(sko͞op) and keeping the publication ad-free, instead charging $399 a year for complete access. The Information achieved profitability(ˌpräfədəˈbilədē) in 2016, Ms. Lessin said, three years after she left The Wall Street Journal to start it. She added that she expected $20 million in sales by the end of 2020, and for her staff of two dozen reporters and editors in the Bay Area(ˈe(ə)rēə), Seattle(sēˈadl), Los Angeles, New York, Washington and Hong Kong to grow. “The fact that we have a business that’s scaling(skāl) makes me excited,” she said.

This sense of hope is discordant(disˈkôrdnt) with the rest of online media, which seems in grim(grim) shape(SHāp) — last year, more than 1,000 people were laid off at BuzzFeed, AOL, Yahoo, HuffPost and Vice Media. (BuzzFeed is now back on more solid(ˈsäləd) footing and could be headed for a sale.)

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https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/07/business/media/the-information-jessica-lessin.html