The founder of Waypoint argued that media organizations must look beyond advertising and explore models based on transactions, memberships, and services—leveraging their most valuable asset: the trust of their communities.
The media industry is searching for new sustainability formulas amid declining advertising revenues and the transformation of the digital ecosystem. Matt Sanders, founder of Waypoint, proposes turning audience trust into a new source of economic value.
During his presentation at SIPConnect 2026, titled “The Trust Asset: How Media Builds New Revenue,” Sanders encouraged news organizations to examine a model that has begun to develop in U.S. universities and could offer lessons for the media industry. “The most important asset on your balance sheet is trust,” he said. “The question is how to capture that value in a way that goes beyond advertising.”
Sanders referred to the three major technological revolutions he has witnessed throughout his career. The first was the transition to the internet and digital search; the second, the rise of social media; and the third, artificial intelligence, which he described as a technology that leverages and reorganizes the data generated during the previous two stages.
According to him, each of these waves fundamentally transformed how audiences consume information and altered the economic foundations of media. “Advertising that used to be worth ten dollars dropped to one dollar—or even cents,” he noted.
Given this reality, he believes media organizations need to pursue models less dependent on traditional advertising. He proposes evolving from a model based exclusively on audiences to one that captures value from transactions carried out by those same communities.
The concept, which he called audience commerce, is based on a simple premise: media organizations have already spent decades building communities and relationships grounded in trust. That trust can become the foundation for offering new solutions and services.
To illustrate this, he presented the case of U.S. universities whose alumni maintain strong emotional ties to their institutions—similar to the bonds sports teams create with their fans.
Waypoint developed a white-label travel platform that allows these universities to offer tourism services to their communities using the institution’s brand identity. Users can book hotels, vacation packages, or accommodations through a platform linked to a brand they already know and trust.
Trust as an advantage
Sanders argued that media organizations possess an advantage that large technology platforms cannot easily replicate: a longstanding relationship with specific audiences.
While companies like Expedia, Booking, or major digital agencies must invest millions of dollars annually to acquire customers, media organizations already have established communities. “You already have the audience, and you already have the trust,” he said.
Building on that relationship, he suggested developing products and services that respond to real audience needs and can generate additional revenue for news organizations.
Although his main example focused on travel, Sanders emphasized that the logic can extend to multiple sectors. He mentioned events, experiences, premium memberships, benefits programs, ticket sales, and other services that leverage the existing connection between media brands and their audiences.
The goal, he explained, is to move from a model in which users are merely content consumers to one in which they also participate in an economy built around the journalistic brand.
Using data to better understand the interests and behaviors of a media outlet’s community is another key element of this approach. According to Sanders, news organizations often have much richer and deeper insights into their audiences than many universities or companies in other sectors. That information can be used to design more personalized and relevant offerings.
Sanders called for a broader view of how media organizations understand their business models. He believes news organizations must explore new ways to monetize the trust-based relationships they have built with their communities.
“How can you move from advertising to transactions?” he asked at the end of his talk.
For Sanders, the answer goes beyond technology—it lies in the ability of media organizations to identify what additional value they can offer their audiences and turn that relationship into a sustainable asset for the future.
