 | |
Type of site | News |
|---|---|
| Available in | Danish |
| Created by |
|
| Editor | Lea Korsgaard |
| URL | www |
| Registration | Yes |
| Users | 18,000 |
| Launched | 23 March 2012 |
| Current status | Online |
Zetland is a Danish media company founded in 2012. Headquartered in Copenhagen, it publishes three to four news articles daily, focusing on long-form stories and in-depth articles.[1][2] A subscription-based organization, it had more than 18,000 subscribers as of November 2020.[1] The editor-in-chief is Lea Korsgaard, formerly of Berlingske and Politiken,[3] who co-founded Zetland along with Jakob Moll, Silke Bock, and Hakon Mosbech.[4]
Founded in 2012, Zetland originally created single long-form stories, called e-singles, delivered monthly to subscribers. Journalists would also read their works at public events, similar to Pop-Up Magazine in the U.S.,[5] which have become central to Zetland's business model.[1][4] The company name derives from a hybrid between a zebra and Shetland pony.[1] In 2015, Zetland initiated a relaunch with a crowd-funding campaign which raised over 530,000 kroner (kr.), and additional investments of 8 million kr. The relaunch occurred in March 2016, with Zetland offering daily news articles.[4][6] In 2016, revenue was 6.2 million kr.[1] In 2018 Zetland is to receive 1.8 million kr. for editorial production services from the Danish cultural board Slots- og Kulturstyrelsen.[7]
Since the relaunch, notable pieces have included conversations with Justice Minister Søren Pind and British sociologist Anthony Giddens.[8] In 2017 Zetland won a trio of awards from the Society for News Design Scandinavias, including gold and "Best of Show" in the digital news category for front page, and silver in the website category.[9][10]
Zetland has been offering its stories in audio format as well as text, and that has rapidly become the most popular aspect of the site, with 60% of members now consuming their content in audio.[11] In 2021, it switched from MP3 to Opus for its articles' audio recordings, which attained a 35 percent reduction in bandwidth and reduced climate footprint.[12][13]
Korsgaard attributes the growth of the title to its focus on a membership model as a community, and a constrained number of stories per day, making the site "finish-able" each day.[14]
Zetland achieved financial stability in 2020, with the help of a member-get-member campaign in 2019 that contributed to a 25 percent growth in the span of a month. The campaign was later awarded several awards, including Best Idea to Grow Digital Readership or Engagement from INMA Global Media Awards and Best Digital Marketing Campaign for a News Brand from WAN-IFRA European Digital Media Awards.[15][16]
In May 2020, former Head of Product Tav Klitgaard replaced co-founder Jakob Moll as CEO, with the latter pursuing academic studies abroad.