This story is part of the Transition Accelerator 2024 cohort series.
TuŁódź is an independent media outlet in Łódź, Poland’s third most populous city. Founded as a digital newsroom, TuŁódź reports on local issues with a strong focus on tolerance, diversity, ecological values, and the concerns of marginalized groups. Their mission is not just to inform, but to strengthen civil society.
When the team joined the Transition Accelerator, they set themselves an ambitious goal: to move away from an advertising-based model and build a business rooted in reader support. As they see it, relying on platforms and algorithms is too fragile a foundation for sustainable local journalism. The solution lies in meeting the audience where their needs are. IPI’s media innovation team spoke with CEO Patryk Ślęzak and innovation manager Tomasz Kowalski about how TuŁódź is laying the groundwork for this change.
From ads to audience
The first step was creating a Readers’ Club, designed to bring audiences closer to the newsroom while preparing the ground for a membership model. The club currently offers two core products. The first is a weekly newsletter, published every Thursday and curated by a rotating member of the team, announced in advance to build anticipation. Instead of being just a roundup of links, the newsletter delivers an interesting story from the past week in Łódź.
The second pillar is TuŁódź Extra, a section on the website with exclusive stories available to registered readers. For now, both Extra and the newsletter are free. The goal is to build habits, test which kinds of content resonate, and only then introduce payments and perks such as ticket discounts, coupons and special offers for local businesses.
The response so far has been encouraging. Drawing inspiration from a partner outlet in Katowice, TuŁódź initially set a goal of 1,000 registrations in a year. But they hit that number in only six months, with 700 registrations for TuŁódź Extra and 300 for the newsletter.
“We’ve grown at twice the speed we expected”, Patryk says, “so there is appetite for exclusive, curated content.”
Learning what the audience values
The experiment has also helped TuŁódź understand its audience better. To their surprise, hard-hitting political reporting and corruption investigations did not generate the most registrations. Instead, readers gravitated toward tourism, day-to-day practical information and stories unique to the local culture.
“We had a story about Polish words and expressions specific to Łódź”, Patryk recalls. “That one piece was such a hit that 100 new people registered for it.”
The team is clear that civic accountability will remain central. “We believe political reporting is essential for democracy and accountability in our community, even if those articles only have 500 readers instead of 50,000”, Patryk explains. The key, they say, is balance: watchdog reporting alongside practical stories that make readers feel supported in their lives.
Next step forward: introducing payments
The next challenge is monetization. Over the coming year, TuŁódź plans to expand its reach by meeting audiences outside the newsroom, be it at picnics, festivals, and other community events, and to continue growing its Readers’ Club. About a year after launch, they plan to introduce tiered membership payments.
There’s some uncertainty about willingness to pay, since supporting journalism directly is still a new habit in Poland. But the team is optimistic. “If 10% of members decide to contribute, that will be a success”, Patryk says. Advertising can still complement reader revenue. Over time, at least half of TuŁódź’s revenue should come directly from readers.
Getting here has also required a shift in thinking. “It’s not embarrassing to ask for support”, innovation manager Tomasz Kowalski reflects. “People want to do something good. If they feel the journalism we do is valuable to them, I believe they will pay for it.”
Looking beyond Łódź
The team’s ambitions also stretch beyond city limits, to the smaller communities surrounding Łódź, where access to independent local news is almost nonexistent. “In some areas, there is no media at all, no newspaper, no portal, nothing”, Patryk says.
For TuŁódź, expanding into these underserved areas is both a responsibility and an opportunity. This way, they can strengthen their plans for long-term sustainability, while also ensuring that more people across the region have access to journalism that informs, connects and inspires.
The Transition Accelerator is part of the Media Innovation Europe programme (MIE), made possible with the support of the European Union.
