According to the New York Times, three veteran media executives, including Steven Brill, are building an automated system to allow newspapers and magazines to charge for online access, including an "all you can read" subscription that would allow access to multiple publications, for perhaps $15 a month.
Their company, Journalism Online, aims to supply publishers with ready-made tools to charge Internet fees and hopes to have a product by fall.
As envisioned by the company, a nonpaying reader on a publication site would reach a certain point and see a page asking for payment--the Journalism Online system, operating within the publication's Web site. But a reader who wanted a subscription to multiple sites would go directly to the new company's own site.
The company also plans to negotiate licensing and royalty fees with search engines and news aggregators.
More details from Journalism Online.
More ideas from Steven Brill.
For a dissenting view, one arguing that Amazon and Pay Pal are already doing it--better--see this post by Ryan Tate at Gawker.com.
Excellent analysis of pluses and minuses on Content Bridges.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
E-Readers Offer Hope to Newspapers
At MarketWatch.com, a reader identified as Jackafuss left the following comment, which shows tremendous insight and offers some optimism for newspapers:
Newspapers will not only survive but they will see huge profits through rebounding advertising rates and new earnings from "delivery fees" just about the time production costs collapse.
Electronic delivery through reading tablets is about to shift into high gear. Electronic versions are going to rapidly replace newspapers, books, newsletters and magazines and even the U.S. Mail.
Currently, Kindle enjoys its position as the only game in town. (Sony, Barnes and Noble and others are nipping at Kindle's heels from a distance.) In addition to 250,000 books, Kindle offers 34 electronic newspapers and hundreds of e-letters and blogs.
Soon, local papers will offer newspaper and "mail" delivery through a new generation of electronic reading tablets. By offering large e-readers, about the size of a sheet of notebook paper, "rent free," newspapers will find it easy to contract with other publishers for low-cost delivery services (church newsletters, for example).
The benefits to the public will be enormous: more news at a lower total price, plus huge environmental benefits.
Competition for getting e-readers into the hands of the public is heating up. Sprint, AT&T and Verizon are among the "big players," as are Apple and Google. Apple's deal with Amazon means that millions of subscribers to electronic delivery services now have the option to download electronic books for half the cost of paper copies.
Kindle, Apple, Sprint and the others are selling the pipeline; however, local newspapers control local content. By offering e-readers "rent free" just when home delivery is stopped, newspapers have a natural foothold in this new "private mail service."
Smart newspaper publishers will limit access to local news without a paid subscription via a "newspaper owned" reader.
Newspapers will not only survive but they will see huge profits through rebounding advertising rates and new earnings from "delivery fees" just about the time production costs collapse.
Electronic delivery through reading tablets is about to shift into high gear. Electronic versions are going to rapidly replace newspapers, books, newsletters and magazines and even the U.S. Mail.
Currently, Kindle enjoys its position as the only game in town. (Sony, Barnes and Noble and others are nipping at Kindle's heels from a distance.) In addition to 250,000 books, Kindle offers 34 electronic newspapers and hundreds of e-letters and blogs.
Soon, local papers will offer newspaper and "mail" delivery through a new generation of electronic reading tablets. By offering large e-readers, about the size of a sheet of notebook paper, "rent free," newspapers will find it easy to contract with other publishers for low-cost delivery services (church newsletters, for example).
The benefits to the public will be enormous: more news at a lower total price, plus huge environmental benefits.
Competition for getting e-readers into the hands of the public is heating up. Sprint, AT&T and Verizon are among the "big players," as are Apple and Google. Apple's deal with Amazon means that millions of subscribers to electronic delivery services now have the option to download electronic books for half the cost of paper copies.
Kindle, Apple, Sprint and the others are selling the pipeline; however, local newspapers control local content. By offering e-readers "rent free" just when home delivery is stopped, newspapers have a natural foothold in this new "private mail service."
Smart newspaper publishers will limit access to local news without a paid subscription via a "newspaper owned" reader.
Five Ways Newspapers Use Social Media
From Woody Lewis, a social media strategist for newspapers, who blogs at WoodyLewis.com, here are five promising ways newspapers are using social media to save the industry:
Twitter headline feeds. With more than 280,000 followers, the New York Times’ main Twitter feed dwarfs the Wall Street Journal (19,000+), the Washington Post (4,800+), and the Chicago Tribune (5,200+). Many metropolitan and small-town dailies have followed suit, creating a Twitter handle as an extension of their brand, but the Times, like other large dailies, has gone one step further, establishing channels for Books, Arts and Entertainment, and other sections. These are sub-channels that support personalized interaction, a point of interest for advertisers.
Promoting and monetizing user-generated content. In 2007, the Cincinnati Enquirer created CaptureCincinnati.com, a photo-sharing site where over a thousand local photographers uploaded nearly 12,000 images. The best shots were featured in Capture Cincinnati, a coffee table photo book that included a DVD, selling at a retail price of $39.95.
Story-based communities. The Toronto Globe and Mail uses Cover It Live, a live-blogging/discussion tool that provides interactive coverage of breaking news and live events such as conferences and hearings. Real-time comments, audio and video postings, and polls are among the types of content that can be recorded and then embedded in the story, like this piece on a subway shooting in January.
Customized delivery. Denver-based MediaNews Group, publisher of such major dailies as the Denver Post and Oakland Tribune, has announced plans to test a “customized news delivery service called ‘I-News’ or ‘Individuated News” this summer with the LA Daily News. This service would allow subscribers to choose from different categories, including news from other parts of the country. Blending the offerings of regional newspapers into a separate platform may help more of them survive.
Publishing APIs for third-party developers. The New York Times has taken the lead in an area sure to attract other organizations. By publishing application programming interfaces, or APIs, for third-party software developers, the Times Developer Network has encouraged the creation of a new class of social media applications. Developers have already produced mashups that combine Times content with other resources. Advertisers should see new opportunities to embed messages tailored to the end user, and the Times may partner with those developers it deems worthy, avoiding the incremental cost of creating new applications internally. UK’s The Guardian has announced similar plans to open up its content with Open Platform.
For five more ideas, see the original post at Mashable.com.
Twitter headline feeds. With more than 280,000 followers, the New York Times’ main Twitter feed dwarfs the Wall Street Journal (19,000+), the Washington Post (4,800+), and the Chicago Tribune (5,200+). Many metropolitan and small-town dailies have followed suit, creating a Twitter handle as an extension of their brand, but the Times, like other large dailies, has gone one step further, establishing channels for Books, Arts and Entertainment, and other sections. These are sub-channels that support personalized interaction, a point of interest for advertisers.
Promoting and monetizing user-generated content. In 2007, the Cincinnati Enquirer created CaptureCincinnati.com, a photo-sharing site where over a thousand local photographers uploaded nearly 12,000 images. The best shots were featured in Capture Cincinnati, a coffee table photo book that included a DVD, selling at a retail price of $39.95.
Story-based communities. The Toronto Globe and Mail uses Cover It Live, a live-blogging/discussion tool that provides interactive coverage of breaking news and live events such as conferences and hearings. Real-time comments, audio and video postings, and polls are among the types of content that can be recorded and then embedded in the story, like this piece on a subway shooting in January.
Customized delivery. Denver-based MediaNews Group, publisher of such major dailies as the Denver Post and Oakland Tribune, has announced plans to test a “customized news delivery service called ‘I-News’ or ‘Individuated News” this summer with the LA Daily News. This service would allow subscribers to choose from different categories, including news from other parts of the country. Blending the offerings of regional newspapers into a separate platform may help more of them survive.
Publishing APIs for third-party developers. The New York Times has taken the lead in an area sure to attract other organizations. By publishing application programming interfaces, or APIs, for third-party software developers, the Times Developer Network has encouraged the creation of a new class of social media applications. Developers have already produced mashups that combine Times content with other resources. Advertisers should see new opportunities to embed messages tailored to the end user, and the Times may partner with those developers it deems worthy, avoiding the incremental cost of creating new applications internally. UK’s The Guardian has announced similar plans to open up its content with Open Platform.
For five more ideas, see the original post at Mashable.com.
Tips from WSJ.com
At NiemanLab.org, Alan Murray, executive editor of The Wall Street Journal Online, offers this advice to newspapers, which would include the Tribune:
* The best model for a newspaper Web site is a mix of paid and free content.
* Give away the most popular content on your site; use it to drive traffic to generate ad revenue.
* Charge for content that has strong appeal to niche audiences (followers of local high-school sports, for example).
* The best model for a newspaper Web site is a mix of paid and free content.
* Give away the most popular content on your site; use it to drive traffic to generate ad revenue.
* Charge for content that has strong appeal to niche audiences (followers of local high-school sports, for example).
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