This story appears in the Septemper 1, 2013 issue of Forbes. Subscribe
Note: This is the In Brief I wrote for our special Innovators Issue, dated September 2. It's a condensed version of this post.
Three years ago this month FORBES became a startup again. One of the most storied brands in American media history decided the time had come for dramatic change. New digital technologies were wreaking havoc across the publishing industry. The traditional media models for news--and advertising, too--were engulfed in disruption. Against that backdrop, FORBES moved to collect, produce, distribute and pay for news and information in unique ways.
The numbers tell the story. Last month Forbes.com hit a record domestic audience of 17 million, as measured by comScore. Our worldwide audience is 25 million. Both numbers more than doubled in three years, moving us past all competitors. In a difficult print environment, FORBES magazine single copy sales rose 17.5% in the first half of 2013 from a year earlier. Total circulation is up 1%. Competitors suffered declines. With 37 local-language editions, our worldwide circulation is 2 million.
Still, our most exciting times remain ahead:
Our unique contributor model continues to grow. We now have 1,100 topic experts, many part of an incentive-payment model, publishing 7,000 posts a month. More of their digital work will be expanded into ebooks. Some will be part of a new initiative to bring on video contributors. Others will write more often for our magazine. Increasingly, they are full-fledged partners in what we do.
Staff reporters are succeeding in one of two ways. Our medical reporter, Matt Herper (his Innovator's story is here), has recruited a few dozen contributors--many his sources--to write for Forbes.com. Together they provide more health care coverage than any other news organization. Andy Greenberg, who wrote two stories in this issue (one about Palantir, a CIA-funded data-mining company), finds impact with his unparalleled access in the world of hacktivists.
We're about to make another big digital move. Today's news products must include insights from journalists, consumers--and marketers. In September we'll begin rolling out an innovative page architecture--scrolling streams of related posts, curated stories, content matched to a reader's previous selections and posts from our BrandVoice marketing partners.
Mike Perlis, our CEO, has a favorite quote. "Work for meaningful differences, not better sameness." It applies to all we've done and everything that will follow. We're charting our own course to help make sure a profession adjusts to the times and the business of journalism lives on.
A gallery of covers over the last three years. And a link to all those cover packages from one screen.
