Tying journalists' pay to revenue: 'This is a blood sport now'

In case you've missed the last five years or so and are still trying to figure out the shifting dynamics of the journalism business, this article on DigiDay, "Is it time to tie journalists' pay to revenue," should clue you in.

It includes this observation from Troy Young, president of digital at Hearst:

At the spirit is the need to align editorial teams with the company’s traffic and engagement goals and have them share in the success. The new generation of editors are analytically inclined anyway. Traffic is a reward in many ways because it gives them credibility. This is a blood sport now.

(In fairness, he does go on to warn about the dangers of solely chasing reader traffic.)