Welcome To The Labari Media Group
Launching a new media group initiative for better local online published content
I’m a big fan of great online content. I constantly read stuff from the New York Times, GQ, Esquire, Variety, TheVerge, Polygon…just to name a few.
Unfortunately, when it comes to good local content in Ghana, there’s not much to read/consume. This was one of the reasons I started Tech Nova in the first place. It was to fill in a gap for tech content about the tech ecosystem in Ghana.
Over the last couple of years, I’ve been ranting about the fact that there’s not a lot of good content around entertainment, sports, and lifestyle in Ghana. There are some blogs that produce good stuff but the consistency is not there.
So I had an idea. It’s a really interesting experiment and I want to see how far it goes.
This January, I’m experimenting with a new media venture: Labari Media Group. “Labari” is Hausa for “Narrative”. It’s basically a collection of different online content brands producing content in different categories in Ghana.
Labari Media Group will initially be launching with 6 brands covering different categories including Technology, Music, and Entertainment with a new brand launching next year:
- Tech Nova (Technology)
- Harmattan Rain (Music)
- Squid Magazine (Comics/Entertainment)
- CurlArtBlog (Music)
- UnOrdinary (Women + Lifestyle) (Launching in 2020)
- AccraWeDey (Culture + Lifestyle)
What Exactly Does This Mean
This is a media experiment. Labari Media Group is a collective of different brands that will be feeding off each other to promote local stories and content.
Currently, all the current above-listed brands will continue to produce content on their front end so you won’t see much change (with the exception of the Labari Media Group logo on these sites).
Basically, all the brands will belong to one entity.
In addition to the current brands, there will be a new site launching on Labari Media Group called UnOrdinary. It will focus on women’s issues, trends, lifestyle, entertainment, interviews etc.
Also, it will be run entirely by female writers.
Business Model (Or How The Hell Do We Make Money)
Since this is an experiment, we’re also going to be experimenting with the business model. If we’re being honest, the ad-based business model is on the decline almost everywhere. We’re in a different arena when it comes to online content especially in Africa.
So here’s what we’re going to do:
Each brand will continue with its current business model, which is regular ads, or no ads.
But at the end of March, Tech Nova will be testing out a “subscription” model. What this means is that some articles will be free to read while others will require signup and paying a small fee to consume some content.
I believe that if people value something, they’ll pay for it. The amount of time that goes into putting out certain content takes a lot of work and it just makes sense to be compensated for the work done.
Subscription fees will be used to pay for server costs, admin staff, external writers and other overhead costs.
Everything is still experimental. Nothing is set in stone. So we’ll observe and see how everything goes.
The Labari Media Group website (www.labarimediagroup.com) will be launching in January 2020. The new women brand will launch in February 2020.
One More Thing…..
In addition to the Labari Media Group collective launching, Labari Media will also be launched as well. It will be a new website focusing on news, entertainment and lifestyle, separate from the existing brands.
It will feature stories from other brands for more visibility and cross-promotion as well as original content.
In Summary
So here’s what you need to know:
Labari Media Group Launching in 2020 with these brands:
- Tech Nova
- Harmattan Rain
- CulartBlog
- Squid Magazine
- AccraWeDey
- UnOrdinary
- Labari Media
The women’s brand will launch in February 2020.
Tech Nova will be relaunching with a “subscription” model in April 2020
All caught up? Cool.
