Digital Publishing Reader Revenue
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How The New York Times is using interactive tools to build loyalty (and subscriptions)

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The New York Times’ lofty goal of getting to 10 million subscribers is an all-hands-on-deck mission — involving even its Interactive News desk, the group charged with creating graphs and other interactive elements that support the paper’s long articles.

In recent months, the team has launched calendars to integrate into readers’ Google and Apple calendars to inform them of content produced by the paper. It’s also helping the Times’ recently formed Reader Center find more ways to connect more tightly with its reader base. The idea: Foster loyalty and habit, the key pathways to subscription.

“When I first started, interactives were kind of imagined as an add-on,” said Ben Koski, director of the Interactive News team. “We’ve started the shift toward better engaging readers. It’s around reader interaction, rather than one-offs.”

Koski and his team report to multiple departments, including the news design division and the graphics department, and the team’s job is to help the newsroom’s desks find new ways to tell stories.

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