Journalism Online expects 10 pct of Web readers to pay

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Journalism Online, a startup planning to sell news online, is hoping to get money from about 10 percent of Internet readers accustomed to mostly free access to newspaper and magazine Web sites since the 1990s. Journalism Online's online fee expectations are more optimistic than some other industry studies that have assumed newspapers and magazines probably shouldn't count on more than 2 percent of their online audiences to pay for coverage that has been given away for years. If it hits its targets, Journalism Online believes it will generate tens of millions of new income for newspaper and magazine publishers trying to overcome a steep decline in their main source of revenue — advertising sold for their print editions. Journalism Online thinks it can help by serving up a smorgasbord of online newspaper and magazine content that enables readers to pay a single vendor for coverage pulled from multiple Web sites. The subscription packages, for instance, might cater to Web surfers willing to pay for the best stories about entertainment, business or even something even more specialized like California politics. Besides opening up a new revenue spigot, charging for Internet content also would help newspapers and magazines preserve the value of their print franchises, according to Journalism Online's co-chief executive, Steve Brill. He reasons people will have less reason to stop buying the print editions if they can't get as much online news coverage for free — a rationale that echoes a growing number of publishers.


Journalism Online expects 10 pct of Web readers to pay