Before Tav Klitgaard shifted his career focus to technology and journalism, he worked as a jazz trumpet player, and the creativity and innovation that all great jazz requires is something he carries along with him. “One way that I could actually help improve society was to go into journalism,” Klitgaard said of his career change. “And the wonderful thing for me right now is that I am the CEO of a media company, and the trumpet is still with me.
What I try to do is take tech creativity and bring it into the world of journalism.” Copenhagen-based Zetland is a remarkable example of a journalism start-up that does nearly everything differently from a typical news publisher. They start each morning with a group song, for example, and they intentionally publish only a few pieces of content a day.
At the beginning it was just one or two articles, now it’s four or so. Every story is always made available to their members in both text and audio form. In short, they don’t just think outside the box, they actually work that way.
For starters, they are completely focused on the kind of news and information that people want and will pay to support. And that’s what Zetland’s consumers really are, supporters and believers in something that they want not only to consume but also feel they are a part of. It’s an approach that is working well: Today, Zetland has a staff of 65, and 40,000 paying members (in a Danish population of 5.
5 million), with about a third of those membe.
