New Media Model Makes its Debut
In this ever-fragmented media world, it is always interesting to me to see what revenue and reporting models will work and what won’t fly. Do you remember the early days of online newspaper coverage when they tried to charge us, then relented when media consumers got nasty irate, and now some of them charge us for some of the content?
It seems that smart folks everywhere have been trying for years to find a model that supports excellent journalism, satisfies our insatiable need for instant coverage and make an advertising buck at the same time. And they may have found it.
In today’s WSJ, (I was actually reading the paper version, thank you very much) there is a profile on a new model called True/Slant that will attempt - I am forever the optimist – to blend paid content that looks like news with hard core journalism coverage.
The concept is really interesting in that we consumers get to opt in to the specific journalists and content (from advertisers) that we want to follow and the journalists get to pull content from their “day jobs” into the site – if they still have day jobs. True/Slant states that it is tapping the best and the brightest to muse on the news including those from national news outlets.
Seems like a win for out-of-work journalists and those who need some extra cash to get paid for good reporting; a win for advertisers who will gain access to a targeted group of consumers; and a huge win for consumers who will get a portal that is really customizable with quality content.
The only downside, the site wasn’t live when I wrote this so I can’t give my opinion as to how it actually works. But I hope to dig in there in the coming weeks.About the Author: Carol Klimas
View more blog posts from Carol Klimas >
Contact Carol
0 comments so far