The Future of News is Niche
In 2013, Jessica Lessin, a reporter at The Wall Street Journal, left the paper to start a competing publication, The Information.
A few years later, her fledgling newsroom had grown to nearly two dozen reporters and editors and booked more than $20 million in sales, as she revealed in a profile I wrote for The Times’s Sunday Business. She has doubled her editorial team and has continued to be profitable. Revenues in 2024 were up 30 percent over the previous year. Lessin is optimistic, however.
I spoke with the entrepreneur to find out about her latest media investment, the tennis magazine Racquet, and what she thought about the changing landscape of news. This interview has been edited and condensed.
This investment seems different from your others. How did you decide to invest?
I was introduced to Racquet magazine by some of its fans. It was the strangest experience because I was reading a magazine and then wanted to buy all the clothes. I went to the site and wanted to buy everything. They’re hosting a U.S. Open event. I said I wanted to go. I also want to read the great profile on the mental coach who is behind the No. This sounds like something that you experienced personally. I assumed that you would be more focused on the sales and market size, and margin.
It is both. I’m all about revenue, controlling your destiny, and direct subscription revenues. That’s my true north. I think that big media companies ignore niches. They think that they are too small. But also a very passionate founder.
Tell me about Racquet’s founder. Tell me about Racquet’s founder.
It is led by Caitlin Thomson, a Division I college player who knows how to obtain Novak Djokovic’s cellphone if she does not have it. She’s also an amazing player. I haven’t worked up the courage to play her yet. I adore tennis. I love tennis, and so does my whole family. But I think it’s so amazing to see the authority she has in the space, and she has a background as a journalist.
Subscriptions are a big part of your media thesis. Do all the companies you invest in have that component?
Not all do. You know Nich’s new company Dynamo that I invested in. I don’t believe they have yet, but I think all the companies do. His start-up focuses on video. You’re trying get me in trouble, but I’m not.
So let me tell you what got me hooked on Dynamo. Nich, a world-class journalist I’ve known for years, told me, “Look, back when I ran Business Insider, we couldn’t spend enough time on this — and it was how to create high-quality videos very efficiently and at a low cost.” Dynamo wants its brand to be known for producing quality videos on important topics. So I love the vision, and I love that it came from this spark inside of Nich as he was sitting inside a bigger news organization.
Isn’t video expensive to produce and create and edit?
No. You should see the video of my podcast. It’s not very good. So, it depends. A.I. has certainly changed the equation in some ways, but it’s also changed the way we edit. I don’t believe A.I. A.I. is already transformative.
You mentioned that big media companies are missing the picture on niche publications. Is this the future of journalism? Or at least one way to be successful?
Yes, absolutely.
So is it over for The New York Times?
Not over. The New York Times has a core of news and is growing by bundling a lot of other things, some of which are niche. Look at The Athletic’s acquisition. The New York Times is on the right track. It’s good for us. It’s a fact that readers expect expertise. Anyone can do so much research online. And I think what great media entrepreneurs are figuring out now — after a decade of learning the wrong lessons about how to build media businesses — is that there is so much growth and opportunity and impact we can have by serving those communities.
Are legacy newsrooms too focused on the old model?
I do think that many of the large media organizations haven’t gotten the memo fully. I mean, it’s fascinating to watch The Wall Street Journal integrate its tech coverage with its media coverage.
You’re talking about how The Journal
recently cut some tech reporters
and combined it with the media team.
Yeah. It’s sad that this is happening in a time when there have been so many layoffs, across teams and publications. It’s where I went to school, and there are some wonderful people. Our formula at The Information is very different. It is going into the beats, and very deeply into the subject matter. I believe the most ambitious and impactful stories are those that focus on companies, people, and areas of expertise. I’m worried because I see other newsrooms that have very talented reporters assigning them to very broad and enterprise-like coverage. How would you run The Journal if it was under your management?
I would run it like The Information. I built it, because I believed that this was the only way to make it the most authoritative publication for business leaders. You had to be able to cover very important topics. I think it is very difficult to be broad. I guess that explains Substack’s success. Very targeted content. People are recognizing the opportunities. When I started The Information, I felt the same way. I thought it was easier to start a media business because I didn’t need to own a print press. There are still a few things to consider. You have to be sure to choose the right investors, your business model, and the type of content you want to focus on. You’ve invested in seven start-up media companies. Are you planning to roll up your investments?
I’m very active in trying to do deals which would enhance The Information or that are related — being the authority on technology — so rolling things up like that within The Information is absolutely possible. Most of our investments do not fall into this category. I am absolutely convinced that there will be opportunities for The Information to acquire a number of companies in a variety of different areas. But I am absolutely a believer that there will be opportunities for The Information to acquire a number of companies in a lot of different areas. So I’m not going to see a roll-up of The Information, Semafor and Dynamo anytime soon?
You might see a great Information-Semafor-Dynamo dinner party, and maybe even a tennis match.
The big media story right now is The Washington Post, and since we’re talking about investment opportunities, my old boss, Kara Swisher, is out there trying to get people together to buy it. What do you think about this?
I texted my old boss, Kara Swisher, when I saw the article and said, “You go!” She is certainly one of them. She’s certainly one of them. I don’t know anything. I think Jeff Bezos has finally flexed his muscles, by announcing that the opinion pages will now reflect “free market and personal liberties”, or however he put it.
Does that seem like a good idea?
I think it’s a smart move for the publisher to have a say in the opinion pages.I think it makes sense that they shape the point of view. It’s too early to tell. It’s not the move you would make if you were trying to sell something. This is a move that you make to establish yourself as a business owner. He’s really digging into it.Maybe Kara and her supporters should do something new to challenge them. She should then call us at Lessin Media.
