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It would be interesting to see if someone could endow an independent publication with enough money to keep it going, then put quality ad-free journalism behind
by imgabe 11y ago
It would be interesting to see if someone could endow an independent publication with enough money to keep it going, then put quality ad-free journalism behind a paywall.
I'm thinking it would be something like "B Corporation". Not exactly a charity, but not necessarily trying to maximize profit either. Charge a high monthly price, maybe $50/month for immediate access to new articles, but after 1 month everything becomes freely available.
Information will undoubtedly be copied and posted elsewhere anyway, the only thing you can realistically control is who gets access to it first. People who value up-to-date news that's guaranteed to be impartial would pay for early access to it, I think. Everyone else would still get to benefit from it as well, just slightly delayed.
- edent 11y agoThe Scott Trust is the main financial backer for The Guardian - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scott_Trust_Limited https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scott_Trust_Limited Is that the sort of thing you were thinking of?
- takno 11y agoThe Scott Trust isn't exactly a large endowment that can provide the news using the returns from investments. It's an independent ownership model which has enough cash reserves to cushion the Guardian for a while why they get back into profit. If they don't crack the problem of how to make money from the internet they are gone just the same as everybody else.
- rmc 11y agoThe Guardian newspaper in the UK (y'know one of the newspapers Edward Snowden reached out to), are exactly that. Except you can read it for free online. You can consider signing up as a Guardian Member if you want to support them.
- pdkl95 11y agoYou should watch Jacob Appelbaum's comments[1] about The Guardian. They may not deserve your support. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJValv4YQcY#t=78 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJValv4YQcY#t=78
- ihsw 11y agoThe Intercept, edited by Laura Poitras and Glenn Greenwald of the Snowden Disclosure group, is exactly that. https://theintercept.com/ https://theintercept.com/ Their website is clean and I have yet to see intrusive ads anywhere.
- AndrewUnmuted 11y agoWhile I love The Intercept, and First Look Media, its parent company, it is important to understand that this is not a typical scenario. The Intercept runs at a loss, which it is allowed to do because First Look Media's founder and president is Pierre Omidyar (eBay). He cuts checks for The Intercept when they need funding. They don't have an economically-sustainable journalism operation, which is why they are currently working on new for-profit initiatives.