15 votes

The Correspondent will stop publishing on 1 January 2021

5 comments

  1. [4]
    skybrian
    Link
    I sent them some money when they were crowdfunding, and then when they actually launched, they didn't have any articles I was interested in, so I stopped reading pretty fast.

    I sent them some money when they were crowdfunding, and then when they actually launched, they didn't have any articles I was interested in, so I stopped reading pretty fast.

    4 votes
    1. nacho
      Link Parent
      The idea of slow news is enticing. You get to get of the wild 24-hour ride on the promise that the replacement will keep us more informed and have more robust perspectives for the things that...
      • Exemplary

      The idea of slow news is enticing. You get to get of the wild 24-hour ride on the promise that the replacement will keep us more informed and have more robust perspectives for the things that happen around us.

      Good investigative journalism, or say a technology quarterly or special briefing on a specific topic is slow news. But it's also fast news because it's agenda-setting in its own right: New reveals and perspectives generate a response in society.

      However, most slow news just seems purposeless: Why write about this? What new insight is this going to bring beyond what was written last time non-slow news covered the topic in depth?

      That 'meh'-esque feeling of why bother read this is exactly what The Correspondent ended up delivering: Others do what they said they wanted to do way, way better and I already pay for access to those places.

      8 votes
    2. [2]
      rkcr
      Link Parent
      That was my experience as well. I like the idea of slow news, but the topics they chose were typically not that interesting to me. They are pinning this on the pandemic but I wonder if the...

      That was my experience as well. I like the idea of slow news, but the topics they chose were typically not that interesting to me.

      They are pinning this on the pandemic but I wonder if the difference between their marketing vs. their actual content was more of a problem.

      5 votes
      1. szferi
        Link Parent
        I was a member until recently. I think they delivered on the promise of the ”unbreaking news.” However, I agree that the topics they chose were not diverse enough (too many social justice issues...

        I was a member until recently. I think they delivered on the promise of the ”unbreaking news.” However, I agree that the topics they chose were not diverse enough (too many social justice issues to my taste, almost no science, only - very agenda-driven - tech criticism, etc.) What topics did you miss?

        4 votes
  2. sal
    Link
    I'm a fan of their Dutch branch "De Correspondent" which is still quite successful and I really would have liked to see them succeed in their international branch but I think there were problems...

    I'm a fan of their Dutch branch "De Correspondent" which is still quite successful and I really would have liked to see them succeed in their international branch but I think there were problems with their approach from the start.

    Their Dutch model doesn't really translate easily to an international platform. They knew this of course and adjusted it here and there but now it's clear that it wasn't enough. I think they were maybe too ambitious and tried to do too much too quickly. To accomplish that they would have needed way more support/money. I think there just wasn't enough content.

    Another thing that made it harder for their English platform is that they don't only have to compete with traditional news but there is also much more similarly in-depth and online content available from other sources in English then there was in Dutch when they launched.

    I still believe in their "unbreaking the news" mantra and I also hope they will keep translating some of their content to English when internationally relevant. (Maybe they can build their brand a little more organically?)

    3 votes