Journalism Online, the start-up that plans to monetize newspapers websites by charging readers for content, has announced that more than 500 publications have signed onto to its platform, which is slated to launch in the fall.
The company founded in April by three veteran media executives, said subscribers will be able to use a single Journalism Online account to access the websites of all its affiliates. The websites of these publishers have more than 90 million monthly visitors globally.
Steven Brill
Journalism Online
Publishers will be able to decide the price and what content they want to charge for, based on their brands and online readership. Journalism Online said publishers could make $50 to $100 per-subscriber annually from the most loyal 10 percent of their sites’ visitors.
“By creating a platform of flexible hybrid models for paid content that maximizes online advertising revenue while creating a new revenue stream from readers, Journalism Online has helped shift the debate over charging for online news from ‘if’ to ‘when and how,'” said Journalism Online co-founder Steven Brill.
“And now large numbers of publishers have moved past that abstract debate and are rolling up their sleeves to figure out with us exactly what kind of package is right for them.”
Journalism Online has not announced the names of the 176 dailies and 330 non-dailies that will trial the platform in the fall. Up to 16 payment options will be available.
