Inside Rev360 — how Daily Maverick is using AI to boost community engagement, impact and revenue
AI offers the power to revolutionise journalism by boosting efficiency, driving growth and helping media outlets adapt to shifting consumer habits and the relentless rise of digital platforms.
The average news consumer isn't exactly spoilt for choice. Between pop-up paywalls and unvetted information flooding social media, reader trust is steadily eroding (understandably so). While subscription models dominate the media landscape, Daily Maverick's voluntary subscription approach, where readers pay what they can if they can, keeps our journalism freely accessible to all. Yet, with reader interest declining rapidly globally, we're turning to AI to take reader revenue to the next level, backed by the JournalismAI Innovation Challenge.
The rise of digital media has transformed how we consume news, endlessly searching, streaming and scrolling across platforms, hungry for real-time updates and deeper insights. But this easy access also fuels misinformation and disinformation, threatening independent journalism's very survival.
In times like these, innovation isn't optional; it's essential. AI offers the power to revolutionise journalism by boosting efficiency, driving growth and helping media outlets adapt to shifting consumer habits and the relentless rise of digital platforms.
Daily Maverick is proud to be one of 35 global newsrooms, selected out of 700 applicants, for the 2024 JournalismAI Innovation Challenge, a nine-month programme led by the London School of Economics' JournalismAI team and supported by the Google News Initiative. This opportunity has enabled us to develop Revenue360 (Rev360), an ambitious suite of AI-powered tools designed to deepen reader engagement, grow our Maverick Insider community and demonstrate the real-world impact of our journalism.
Why Rev360? Why now?
'As a whole, the project is crucial for supporting our journalism. Funding for independent media is getting harder and harder to come by,' explained Alet Law, head of audience development at Daily Maverick. 'There's always a need to innovate and find creative solutions to this challenge.'
Unlike many media outlets that rely heavily on paywalls or advertising, Daily Maverick's financial model centres on voluntary contributions from our Maverick Insider community, which accounts for 40% of our revenue. This approach keeps our journalism free for everyone, relying on reader support to sustain our work.
Rev360, developed with support from the JournalismAI Innovation Challenge, is designed to optimise this award-winning membership model through AI-driven improvements at every stage of the engagement funnel and is fundamentally rooted in three pillars of reader revenue: acquisition, engagement and retention.
'We call it '360' because none of these pillars can, or should, exist in isolation,' said Fran Beighton, head of growth at Daily Maverick. 'Acquisition in membership only happens as a result of the impact of our journalism. If there's no impact, there's no impetus to support.'
Optimised landing page
Our current Maverick Insider landing page has a lower-than-average conversion rate.
'We've wanted to redesign the Maverick Insider landing page for a number of years and Rev360 has allowed us to finally do this,' said Julia Harris, head of reader revenue.
'We're testing the new page against our existing landing page and are making use of new analytics such as heatmaps to guide our decision-making,' said Harris.
The goal is to launch a streamlined, user-friendly page by the end of May where AI-driven A/B testing and user analytics will allow us to continuously refine and personalise the experience for different campaigns and audiences.
Otimising the landing page is critical to 'make it quicker and easier for people who have the intention of supporting by becoming members to complete their sign-up', Beighton added.
Small changes can make a huge difference to conversion rates, and we're excited to see what the data reveals, Harris said.
Daily Maverick Connect: Building a community
'Retention doesn't happen without engagement. Readers need to feel that they belong, that they are part of something significant,' Beighton said.
Until now, readers could connect with us but not with each other. Recognising the need to foster stronger community engagement, Daily Maverick is launching Daily Maverick Connect, an online platform built on Discourse.
'For years, we at Daily Maverick have had the privilege of the support of these members – and not just their financial support: we've hired from this group; we've leaned on their expertise; we've even had event spaces donated; they've chosen our book covers […] with 'Daily Maverick Connect' we want to open this network up so that members can connect with each other,' Beighton said.
It's imperative to understand that the one thing our Maverick Insiders share in common is that they're paying for a free service to ensure that those who can't afford to pay still have access to quality journalism.
'That's special. This community platform breaks down a barrier that will allow our members to truly become part of Daily Maverick, it's their platform.'
Progress in action
'[Working on Daily Maverick Connect] has been a deep learning curve,' said Law. 'Creating something from scratch means thinking about every detail – from technical aspects and user experience to content and communication,' both internally and externally, she said.
The platform will initially only be available to Maverick Insiders, offering a space for members to connect, network and collaborate around shared interests. AI-powered tools will assist with content moderation and conversation analysis, helping maintain a positive environment and providing insights to improve user experience.
'We haven't put anything into practice yet, but I think I'm excited to see what comes of it,' said Law.
The team aims to have the platform live by early July, with editorial staff joining soon after.
'Our hope for [Daily Maverick Connect] is that [our supporters] will derive genuine value from it, whether that's new business opportunities or just finding a like-minded padel partner or a new book club.
Impact Framework: Measuring what matters
The Impact Framework is Daily Maverick's new strategy to make impact the guiding principle of our journalism. By combining proactive planning before publication with robust post-publication tracking, it helps inform newsroom decisions, optimise resource allocation and build reader trust.
At the heart of this framework is the Impact Engine, an AI-powered tool that analyses our articles and tracks their influence on public discourse, including references in parliamentary records. Alongside this, we're adopting new workflows to plan for impact intentionally and systematically track outcomes – ensuring every story's potential influence is considered from start to finish.
What's next?
As we enter the next phase, our focus is on scaling Rev360, sharing our learnings and refining each component based on real-world feedback.
'The support of JournalismAI has turned what was once only pipe dreams into reality,' said Beighton.
We believe Rev360 can become a model for independent publishers worldwide — proof that with the right tools and support, even small newsrooms can lead the way in innovation. DM
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Funding for independent media is getting harder and harder to come by,' explained Alet Law, head of audience development at Daily Maverick. 'There's always a need to innovate and find creative solutions to this challenge.' Unlike many media outlets that rely heavily on paywalls or advertising, Daily Maverick's financial model centres on voluntary contributions from our Maverick Insider community, which accounts for 40% of our revenue. This approach keeps our journalism free for everyone, relying on reader support to sustain our work. Rev360, developed with support from the JournalismAI Innovation Challenge, is designed to optimise this award-winning membership model through AI-driven improvements at every stage of the engagement funnel and is fundamentally rooted in three pillars of reader revenue: acquisition, engagement and retention. 'We call it '360' because none of these pillars can, or should, exist in isolation,' said Fran Beighton, head of growth at Daily Maverick. 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'We haven't put anything into practice yet, but I think I'm excited to see what comes of it,' said Law. The team aims to have the platform live by early July, with editorial staff joining soon after. 'Our hope for [Daily Maverick Connect] is that [our supporters] will derive genuine value from it, whether that's new business opportunities or just finding a like-minded padel partner or a new book club. Impact Framework: Measuring what matters The Impact Framework is Daily Maverick's new strategy to make impact the guiding principle of our journalism. By combining proactive planning before publication with robust post-publication tracking, it helps inform newsroom decisions, optimise resource allocation and build reader trust. At the heart of this framework is the Impact Engine, an AI-powered tool that analyses our articles and tracks their influence on public discourse, including references in parliamentary records. Alongside this, we're adopting new workflows to plan for impact intentionally and systematically track outcomes – ensuring every story's potential influence is considered from start to finish. What's next? As we enter the next phase, our focus is on scaling Rev360, sharing our learnings and refining each component based on real-world feedback. 'The support of JournalismAI has turned what was once only pipe dreams into reality,' said Beighton. We believe Rev360 can become a model for independent publishers worldwide — proof that with the right tools and support, even small newsrooms can lead the way in innovation. DM
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'We raised this point over and over in our engagements with the department that the amendments must specifically exclude prospecting companies from empowerment requirements … Yet in this draft Bill, none of that is included,' Minerals Council CEO Mzila Mthenjane said in a statement on Tuesday. The thing about prospecting – or exploration – is that it is an extremely high-risk activity that onerous BEE rules will severely curtail. And without exploration, the South African mining industry has no viable long-term future. Daily Maverick asked Mantashe to clarify this afterwards and he responded by saying: 'If there is a BEE requirement in the Bill for prospecting, it must be removed.' So, the industry's complaints on this front are not falling on deaf ears, though it has raised concerns that its inputs were not included in the draft. And a new mist of uncertainty has shrouded policy just as progress is being made on other fronts such as the looming rollout of the long-awaited mining cadastre to address the applications backlog of mining and prospecting rights and permits. Overall, the industry is not happy with the Bill, which once again moves the goal posts at a time when investors are crying for certainty for a sector that remains crucial for South Africa's low-growth and high-unemployment economy. 'When we ask ourselves this question, does this Bill promote investment and create jobs, we see it has some serious short-comings,' said Paul Dunne, the CEO of Northam Platinum, who was re-elected as president of the Minerals Council SA. 'They are both substantive in nature and technical … Council is a very considered, professional advocacy group. We represent at least 99% of the mining industry in this country and our submission [on the draft Bill] will be made public when the right time comes, and we will engage very, very robustly with the department and the minister on this issue,' he said. The good-natured Dunne added: 'The minister knows us very well. We are very tough. And minister, we are coming.' That raised a chuckle from the audience and Mantashe, but it is no laughing matter – except for lawyers, who are going to giggle all the way to the bank. The draft Bill raises the almost certain prospect of arduous and time-consuming legal and court battles – another obstacle to the investment that the mining sector and wider South African economy desperately need to reach faster levels of growth and job creation. It has also raised hackles in the GNU, which is supposed to be the ANC's main governing partner. One bone of contention is embedding the Mining Charter into the legal framework, which could once again unleash the 'once empowered, always empowered' debate which the industry has already won in court. But fresh legal scraps could loom on this front. This played out in the courts when Gupta stooge Mosebenzi Zwane was the minister in charge of mining, and the term refers to the industry's contention that once a company reached a required BEE ownership threshold that should be set in stone even if black shareholders decided to sell their stakes – which is the point of owning shares. The government at the time held that mining companies needed to endlessly keep topping up BEE stakes, a state of affairs that would dilute value and repel foreign as well as domestic investment. 'By expressly including the Mining Charter as law and not simply policy, the Bill allows for the rapid overturning of t'once empowered, always empowered', opening the door to the need for constant injections of new BEE investors, a feature which would on its own make investing a lossmaking prospect,' MP James Lorimer, the DA spokesperson on Minerals and Petroleum Resources, said in a statement. 'The Bill is poorly thought out. It is contradictory and unclear in several places. It grants new powers to the Minister to rule the industry according to his own whim.' What this means More policy confusion and uncertainty at a time when South Africa needs both to extract wealth, investment and job creation from its rich minerals endowment. It will also test the GNU and likely trigger a tsunami of legal challenges for South Africa's already stretched court system. The ANC is acting like it has a two-thirds majority in Parliament on this front and has yet to be pulled back to Earth by the laws of political gravity. Mantashe on Wednesday reminded the industry of its racist past, and that is no bad thing – in an age when US President Donald Trump is parroting fascist-inspired lies about 'white genocide', hard historical truths need to be confronted head-on. The South African mining industry was the economic bedrock of apartheid, subjecting an overwhelmingly black migrant labour force to ruthless exploitation. But the times are changing and the industry – partly in response to government regulation and union demands but also wider concerns among investors foreign and domestic – has made strides from the indignities of the apartheid past on a range of fronts, including ownership, wages, communities, health and safety. BEE as a mantra has not delivered a utopia while enriching a relatively small elite, and it is also starting to look like a fossilised relic in an age when – despite the Trump administration's efforts to turn the tide – capital is largely looking for kinder, gentler returns. The Bill, for now, is not law and open to public comment. Break out the popcorn for the fireworks. DM
