Micropayments: Would you pay 20p to read an article? 19 November 2012Last updated at 19:00 ET By Dave Lee Technology reporter, BBC News A plethora of titles - but for how long? Without devising a fresh way to make money, newspapers will continue to suffer from falling sales How much is an online article worth to you? After reading the first few lines, would you pay a bit of money to read the rest of it? Consider this as a future: paying small amounts to read, watch and listen to content online. 20 pence (32 US cents) for a feature here, 10p for a news story there. It's a system called micropayments, and some believe it is the future for supporting journalism, and other creative content, on the internet. The likes of Google and Paypal have begun to roll out and promote their technologies, and there are a number of smaller players hoping to break-through.
Of course, in the BBC's case, articles are effectively pre-paid by a combination of the licence fee and income from international advertising deals. Dead trees Turn off So far, so disheartening. Ad rates, events, and crowdfunding: Community news sites get innovative about revenue. 10 business models that rocked 2010 - by @nickdemey (boardofinnovat...
Irish Times Brings Five Startups into Newsroom for Shakeup. Do we define the future of the newspaper based on the product and its medium? Or do we look to the interaction between the product and the reader, and ask the digital realm to reinvent the relationship? These are big questions, and the fundamental ones underlying the The Irish Times Digital Challenge, the latest attempt to transform the newspaper. The eight-week project follows five startups brought into the print institution’s offices. One winner will be named in September and awarded €50,000 (about $62,700) in investment, in the form of a convertible loan note. A number of groups, mentors and investors are involved in the challenge, which includes €10,000 ($12,500) worth of marketing for each of the five finalists and legal expertise totaling another €20,000 ($25,000). Johnny Ryan, author of “A History of the Internet and the Digital Future” and the chief innovation officer at the paper, said they have already learned lessons from the process and want to be an example for others.
Related. The Ben Franklin Project | A Journal Register publishing experiement.