The Hoopla closes citing competitive market as News Corp launches women-centric challenger
Wendy Harmer’s independent women’s news and commentary site The Hoopla is closing after failing to find a sustainable business model, with its publisher signalling they are in now talks with other media owners to sell the brand.
The Hoopla has been around since 2011 but has struggled to monetise its audience, with its editor Harmer and publishers Jane Waterhouse telling Mumbrella the online market for female readers was too crowded.
Today News Corp Australia announced it was launching its own female-centred online masthead RendezView, although editor Sarrah Le Marquand played down the competition saying “I don’t come from the lofty little corner of the media where I’m good at pontificating at the great unwashed”.
It will be in direct competition with numerous female-centred sites including Mamamia, Fairfax’s Daily Life, Women’s Agenda, Bauer Women’s Network and the Daily Mail’s Femail section.
Waterhouse, CEO of Hoopla parent company We Magazines told Mumbrella this morning: “There is a lot of interest around the brand. What we have managed to do is keep that trust around the brand and there is interest from a couple of different media players and also other production people.”
Asked if that meant The Hoopla brand was on the market Waterhouse confirmed it was, while declining to specify who they were in talks with: “We may look to do that (sell the brand) but that is still ongoing. I can’t tell you who without causing myself a lot of grief.”
‘Extraordinarily competitive’ market
Waterhouse
Waterhouse said that despite putting up a paywall in April 2014 the independent publisher had struggled to find a sustainable financial base at a time when major media outlets like News Corp, Huffington Post and Bauer Media were all entering what is already a busy segment.
“This last year we saw a $2.6bn company like Bauer setting up its own significant team down here,” she said. “The Huff Post is a couple of months away from having a very strong women’s vertical, add to that the Guardian which does a lot in women’s news, Mamamia with Jason and Mia who are aggressive local competitors, plus Fairfax’s Daily Life.
“We have just under 5,000 paid subscribers. It is great additional revenue but no website can rely just on subscriptions, you have to rely on the affiliate sales, the subs and ad revenue.
“That’s if you want to pay people market rate and pay journalists what they deserve.”
Harmer
Editor in chief of The Hoopla Wendy Harmer told Mumbrella she was proud of the conversation and audience, claiming it has built to around 370,000 unique browsers a month.
“Our subscriptions have been going really well but we just ran out of time,” said Harmer.
“We are all pretty aware of how tight the market is and how little money there is around for digital advertising – that money is going to be very much fought over. It is becoming extraordinarily competitive.”
Asked if there were simply too many players in the space Harmer said: “We will see how it shakes out. There are only a certain amount of eyeballs to go around and we will have to see but there will be some big battles on I should think.”
‘A lot of women can’t afford to write for free’
Harmer said the Hoopla would have a legacy in terms of the writers it gave a platform to, citing the likes of Tracy Spicer, Paula Matthewson, Gabrielle Chan who have now moved on to other writing roles.
“I am very proud of being able to give them that platform and pay them,” said Harmer. “I also think we have been inspirational for a lot of sites. We unearthed some fantastic writers, we gave them a fantastic platform and its been great to see them go on.”
She also took aim at the little or no money some other women’s sites, such as Mamamia which pays contributors $50, pay to their writers.
“A lot women can’t afford to write for free,” said Harmer. “They are breadwinners, they have bills, they have mortgages, and while The Hoopla was never able to pay women a lot there were instances where we paid more than the ABC.”
She also confirmed that the teenage orientated brand Birdee would go on citing its success in launching a quarterly print newspaper product, which she claimed was selling well.
“Birdee is going well I think the fact that we have got that newspaper out there, which now has its second edition on sale, is something that makes it a unique product.”
‘I don’t come from the lofty little corner of the media where I’m good at pontificating at the great unwashed’
Le Marquand
News Corp’s Sarrah Le Marquand, who will edit the publisher’s new online property RendezView, today played down the level of competition for female audiences.
“This demographic, which is women in their late 20s to their late 50s are increasing moving into the digital sphere – particularly that demographic – they are mobile friendly and this is really just a way of telling those readers what we have here at News Corp,” said Le Marquand, referring to how it will carry opinion from some of News’ most controversial female columnists such as Miranda Devine and Rita Panahi.
“People like Miranda Devine were there well before anyone else came along in the space.”
Le Marquand will be part of a two person team that will include a senior writer/producer editing the website which she said would have “unique tone” of being “intelligent, sophisticated but very accessible”.
She said: “There is nothing smearing or superior about our content. We don’t talk down to women or to readers.”
Challenged about whether she thought other websites in the space talked down to readers she responded: “I say that as someone who has worked on a tabloid, and in mainstream media, I don’t come from the lofty little corner of the media where I’m good at pontificating at the great unwashed.
“When you work in the mainstream media at a mass title like the Daily Telegraph you have to connect to the broader readership. I really think an intelligent but accessible tone is something that is unique to us.”
The News Corp women’s website will be a subsection of the various state based tabloid mastheads and will fall under News Corp’s paywalls.
“RendezView exists on the various mastheads, it will exist on its own within that but it will take you back to the different websites and will have the same paywall strategy as those mastheads,” she said.
This is not News Corp’s first time experimenting with opinion writing in the online space in 2009 it launched online opinion website The Punch, which did not pay contributors, and closed in 2013 due to the difficulty of monetising opinion writing.
Nic Christensen
I notice ‘RendezView’ is accessed via the Daily Tele URL. Same with all of the News Local publications. Clearly a desperate attempt to boost the abysmal audience numbers for dailytelegraph.com.au
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I’ve always enjoyed the articles and the commentary on the Hoopla. I Particularly enjoyed the debate, support and comeraderie that evolved and was shared with audiences via social media.
For me the problem occurred when the subs were introduced. The debate essentially stopped, for many readers. They couldn’t see the articles, couldn’t comment and, even when I did subscribe, there was no point sharing, as none of my friends could read anything.
Very sad really. I understand that writers need to be paid, and Australia will now lose an intelligent and relatively drama free platform for women. A shame sponsors have recognised this and supported the Hoopla. Best of luck ladies, hope to continue to read your thoughts elsewhere!
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The Hoopla. News through the eyes of women. Who dress like men.
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Given that a conservative government was voted in at the last election by the (silent) majority, why would 2 conservative commentators like Miranda Devine and Rita Panahi be labelled as “controversial”? Reflects more on the prejudices of the author than Miranda or Rita I think. Just a shame their is so little balance in the media.
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JJ. Agree entirely..
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Hi Bob and JJ,
Thanks for the feedback but I used the words “most controversial” because Miranda and Rita are iconoclasts who are good at stirring debate. It’s not a matter of left or right of the political spectrum but rather how they do their job and I’d argue that if you’re a columnist it’s actually good to be controversial.
Cheers,
Nic – Mumbrella
The problem for Hoopla was the dumbing down and bias of their content. They stopped living up to their positioning of quality independent entertaining and thought provoking articles. Instead they became a lame me too of Mamamia. Chasing the clicks/ dollars with sensational superficial pieces – and always with a hidden agenda. They didn’t speak ‘for women’ they spoke for ‘women like us’. A real missed opportunity that they have no one to blame but themselves. Good riddance.
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“Le Marquand will be part of a two person team that will include a senior writer/producer editing the website which she said would have “unique tone” of being “intelligent, sophisticated but very accessible”.
She said: “There is nothing smearing or superior about our content. We don’t talk down to women or to readers.”’
@RitaPanahi on Twitter discussing Rendezview. “The echo chamber shocked that not all women are miserable fringe dwelling lefties. #notallwomen”
I also note Panahi’s use of the phrase ‘baying banshees of the modern feminism movement’ in today’s column.
Wondering if Sarah can elaborate on how Rita fits into her editorial vision given her statement about the qualities she wants the site to convey?
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A short clarification about payment of writers across the Mamamia Women’s Network website.
80% of the content on our websites is produced in house by our on-staff writers. We employ upwards of 30 editorial staff, all of whom are women, and are one of the few Australian media outlets who are hiring writers and journalists – not sacking them.
Mamamia proudly pays all of its writers rates competitive with that of the rest of the market. We would not be attracting journalists the calibre of whom write for our sites without doing so.
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Serious Question: can a company only employ people of one sex without breaking some anti-discrimination law?
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JJ: It is perfectly fitting to refer to Miranda and Rita as controversial. They are not just conservative, they are extremely conservative. Their opinions are certainly not centre-right, they are far right. I have rarely seen an article by either of these commentators that doesn’t attack and attempt to provoke ‘the left’. It’s a never-ending culture war. Most centrist columnists speak on a much wider range of topics that don’t revolve around one fiercely held political viewpoint. Their columns for the most part are intentionally inflammatory and generate plenty of criticism, and also of course support from those who share their beliefs. Hence the controversy, which News Corp obviously likes as it means more eyeballs ( I guess).
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Apologies, re-read my comment (No 2). SHOULD read “a shame sponsors have not recognised this and supported the Hoopla ‘
I too stopped reading Mamamia a while back as it has become a bit of a drama zone and no longer represents many of my own interests n views.
You’d have to pay me to read Miranda n Rita!
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As an early adopter of the Hoopla – and later a subscriber – I am very sad to see them go. Deb nailed it, there was a real community feeling, and commentary was spirited and sensible. There’s nowhere else to read alternative news and opinion that isn’t either sensationalist or mumsy.
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Jamila. – I wonder what you lot would say if there was a newsroom that exclusively employed men. Do you think your hiring practices breach any anti discrimination laws?
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It looks like they may have thought that monthly unique browsers of 370,000 meant 370,000 people, not realising that their audience is likely to be one third of that, making them a less attractive advertising proposition.
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The Sage? Der… we do know the difference. We’ve been doing this for 4 years
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I am sad to see The Hoopla go as it was a terrific platform for some sassy writing. At the same time I am excited to be part of RendezView (and no it’s not a dating site, as some have suggested). As far as I am concerned, the more platforms the better. There is room for us all. At least with RendezView there will be a great diversity of views -we are women who like each other, and respect each other, but don’t necessarily agree!
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@ Jamila: 80%? pfft, who are you kidding. on any given day it is more like 20% content by your on-staff writers.
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@Wendy Harmer: Late last year your audience was not even 150,000 UB’s let alone 370.. You’re trying to tell us your audience has increased by more than 100% in less than 6 months? If that were the case, I’m sure advertising revenue would not be so difficult to secure.
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The hard truth is that there are too many “women’s issue” start-ups fighting for the same audience. The writing on them tends to be self-appointed experts who churn out endless thought bubbles on everything from how to be a super mum to dealing with a dastardly male boss – and it all goes around in ever decreasing circles and ends up sounding the same. It comes down to survival in the digital jungle – and the big and strong devour the small and weak. That might seem to be a nasty male concept, but for all the angst and indignation that’s the way it is and always will be.
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I actually didn’t say 370k a month – it’s that number this March. And that’s what I wrote on our website.
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@Jamila “We employ upwards of 30 editorial staff, all of whom are women.” Is that legal? No men could do a single one of those jobs?
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I am utterly shocked to discover that Internet publishing is trending to zero.
Who could have EVER predicted that?
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Jamila, I don’t see much original content at all on Mamamia. Serious stories are lifted from the ABC, while much of the other content is in the form of a write-around of stories of the day reported by other news outlets or websites. Original content is usually in the form of a personal essay. Actual original reporting is minimal. In that sense, how can MM really call its staff ‘journalists’?
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