Insider’s Paywall Pivot Hits Roadblock From Union Pushback

The business and culture publisher Insider has hit a roadblock in its plan to place more editorial content in front of its paywall, according to internal communications obtained by Adweek.

The strategy, first reported by Axios earlier this month, aimed to increase the amount of traffic the publisher generated through an internal reorganization. To do so, Insider planned to shift the work of roughly 60 reporters from behind its paywall to in front of it, though staff was not aware of the plan until it was announced publicly.

The pivot came as a response to both a downturn in the broader advertising market, as well as an acknowledgment from Insider that some of its paywalled content failed to meaningfully convert readers to subscribers, Insider global editor in chief Nicholas Carlson told Axios.

By moving poorly converting content in front of the paywall, the publisher hopes to generate more digital impressions—and, by extension, more advertising revenue—without jeopardizing its digital subscription efforts.

But on Friday, Insider editor in chief Matthew Turner told editorial leaders that the plan had hit a snag.

“We’ve now been advised that there should be no stories in front of the paywall from [subscription] writers as a result of the proposed changes from now on,” Turner wrote in a Slack channel. “If you need language to share, it would be, ‘We are still bargaining with the union over this and cannot make any changes at this time.’”

According to the messages, reporters who had previously written both for traffic and subscriptions could continue doing so, but reporters who had never written in front of the paywall could not do so until management had negotiated with the union.

Sources tell Adweek that the directive came from Axel Springer, the owner of Insider, a rarity given the hands-off approach the German publishing giant has typically taken toward its U.S. editorial properties. An Insider spokesperson disputed that the order came from Axel Springer, and Carlson told Adweek via email that the pause does not constitute a change in plans.

“We haven’t halted anything,” he said. “As we made clear from the beginning, we want our union’s support for this, and we’re discussing it with them. That takes some time.”

Shifting economic conditions and nuanced power dynamics

The proposed shift in paywall strategy offered the potential for a case study in subscription economics, as few publishers that adopt paywalls have scaled them back afterward. The adjustment reflects the growing sophistication publishers have brought to their paywall methodology.

But the plan hinged on adjusting the editorial goals of dozens of reporters, a staff backed by the NewsGuild of New York, and Insider announced the strategy without first notifying the union. 

The impasse between the two parties adds a point of friction to the ongoing negotiations between Insider management and the union. Following the news of the initial paywall pivot, a group of union employees confronted Carlson in his office.

“Union leadership found out about these changes at the same time as our members,” said members of the union bargaining committee Rebecca Ungarino, Alex Nicoll, Kim Renfro and Emma LeGault in a statement.

“The last-minute nature of this announcement, without involving the union beforehand, created a lot of unnecessary stress that could have been avoided if they came to us sooner. It wasn’t until we took collective action that management came to the table with us, and we worked quickly to give management our proposal for how to move forward.”

The complication comes amidst a larger backdrop of uncertainty at the publisher.

Pay disparities, along with frustration toward its process of measuring reporters’ performance, which staff refer to as a quota system, have led a number of high-profile reporters to leave the organization over the last year, according to former and current employees who spoke with Adweek. An Insider spokesperson said that its attrition rates remain low.

The news also follows a New York Magazine profile of Axel Springer chief executive Mathias Döpfner which claimed that layoffs were coming to Insider.

Insider, which went on a hiring spree during the pandemic, has stressed internally that it prefers to avoid layoffs. Sources familiar with the situation have speculated that the departures caused by flagging morale could be a means of reducing headcount without an explicit order.

“What they’re going for is the effect of layoffs but through attrition,” said one former employee. “I think they are comfortable with the amount of people who are leaving.”