The Powers That Be: Daily Media Monday with Meredith!
Oct 13, 2025
Meredith Kopit Levien, CEO of The New York Times Company, shares her insights on the paper's digital transformation. She discusses her early ambitions when joining the Times and emphasizes a subscriber-first strategy fueled by innovation. Meredith elaborates on expanding lifestyle products like cooking and games, revealing how the Times caters to diverse audience 'fandoms.' She also touches on the importance of institutional advantages in journalism and their strategic M&A choices, underscoring resilience in the face of legal challenges.
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Journalism First Builds Business
- Investing in journalism first builds a durable business because superior product attracts paying audiences.
- Meredith doubled newsroom staff and prioritizes journalism as the first allocation of capital.
Subscriber-First And Software-Led
- The Times shifted to a subscriber-first model and direct user relationships a decade ago.
- They also decided to invest heavily in software to create daily engagement and product experiences.
Productizing Lifestyle With Software
- Lifestyle products work when paired with software that meets user needs differently from print.
- The Times reimagined recipes, daily briefings, and games as purpose-built digital experiences.