Not sure those 176 realize many of them just signed their death warrants to compete with biggie corps that have far deeper pockets.
Based on the model as stated so far which has slim details… To choose more than one paper to read, if one had to pay, would cost the heavy reader of news anywhere from $100 to $17,000 a year just to read news. Steven Brill, above, is one of the masterminds. He says there will be some sort of take-one/take- all subscription rate.
Perhaps. But wasnt that what many of us thought was so great about internet. We didnt have to take ‘packages.’ We could hunt and gather.
Compare this move to acticle just two days ago here on Rupert Murdock’s pointing his horns toward pay-for-online-news after saying, Oh no, I want open access for all… when he was snarfing up the Wall Street Journal as his latest diamond in his gaggle of cable news station ownership, radio stations, social media, and whatever else he can buy up… while Feds no longer seem to be able to even lip synch the word ‘monopoly.’
When one or ten or one hundred monopolize the gateways to the news that used to be ‘free’,
it cuts off investigative reporting of public interest and need– and covens only those who cannot afford to buy online news….
cuts off the cries for help from across the world… unless you pay to hear them…
this is back to the old mogul model of attempting to create status in those who can afford a few hundred or a few thou a year to pay to gain access… and those who instantly become the great unwashed and therefor left out of info and world of opportunities and peril, because they cannot afford to pay.
This so-called ‘high minded’ decrepit model for attempting to once again become The Humongous Controllers of News, that is, ‘the new gatekeepers’ to keep the rabble bloggers, citizen readers and writers from the ‘elite’ castle doors, has already fired, early retired and let go with ill will, thousands of gifted journalists across America. Fool journalist once, shame on monopolist. Fool journalist twice, journalist has lost all instincts for being treated as a true and talented human being.
By Matthew Flamm at Crains Business online, New York City:
“The closely watched plan to get online users to pay to read news stories has taken another step forward.
Journalism Online, the e-commerce startup dedicated to helping news Web sites monetize their content, has reached agreements with 506 newspapers and magazines…176 daily papers.
Together with what are described by the company as “leading global news sites,” the properties that have signed letters of intent to become Journalism Online affiliates represent more than 90 million monthly visitors from around the world.
The affiliates will identify themselves and explain their individual payment plans in separate announcements, according to the company.
Founded by media veterans Steven Brill, Gordon Crovitz and Leo Hindery, Jr., Journalism Online offers a range of payment options that target the most loyal 10% of a site’s audience, with the aim of wringing subscription fees from readers without driving away users and hurting advertising…
Publishers “are rolling up their sleeves to figure out with us exactly what kind of package is right for them,” Mr. Brill said in a statement.
The company expects publishers to be able to charge $50 to $100 annually per subscriber. The services will launch in the fall.
Some analysts have questioned whether most newspaper Web sites will be able to offer content that readers will want to pay for, but Journalism Online remains confident that their model will work.