“Newspapers and magazines traditionally have had three revenue sources: newsstand sales, subscriptions and advertising. The new business model relies only on the last of these. That makes for a wobbly stool even when the one leg is strong,” writes Walter Isaacson in the Thurs 5 Feb issue of Time Magazine.
Isaacson leads the Aspen Institute and formerly headed CNN and was managing editor at Time.
He writes the covers story on the issue that is in the worries if not on the minds of newspeople these days, how can news reporting work in the future.
His solution for where the money will come from is different from those who suggest foundations or government funding and prepaying crowdfunding. He does acknowledge those ideas though.
“That’s fine. We need a variety of competing strategies,” he writes.
His answer is to maintain a relationship and responsibility to the reader through micropayments.
Time cover Walter Isaacson How to Save Your Newspaper
Under a micropayment system, a newspaper might decide to charge a nickel for an article or a dime for that day’s full edition or $2 for a month’s worth of Web access. Some surfers would balk, but I suspect most would merrily click through if it were cheap and easy enough.
The system could be used for all forms of media: [...] This would not only offer a lifeline to traditional media outlets but also nourish citizen journalists and bloggers. They have vastly enriched our realms of information and ideas, but most can’t make much money at it. As a result, they tend to do it for the ego kick or as a civic contribution. A micropayment system would allow regular folks, the types who have to worry about feeding their families, to supplement their income by doing citizen journalism that is of value to their community.
— How to Save Your Newspaper Time 5 Feb 2009
He also tells a story about how as a boy in Louisiana his friend took bags of ice from the gas station arguing that it should be free. “We didn’t reflect much on who would make the ice if it were free[...].” It is interesting that he feels he has to use this story of ice to illustrate the point.
It takes resources to produce and has value, so the readers, the beneficiaries of the news, should be given the opportunity to pay for it.