Wasserman: Can journalism live without ads?
Yes, I am few days behind in reading my journalism feeds in Google Reader, but here’s an interesting take from Ed Wasserman on the changing nature of journalism and advertising:
Can journalism live without ads? - Miami Herald
One interesting idea he mentions:
“Maybe the solution isn’t to escape the market, but to empower it. Modern computing offers unparalleled capacities to track and calculate. Imagine a vast menu of news and commentary offered to you ad-free for pennies per item, the charges micro-billed, added up and presented like a utility bill at month’s end. The money that journalism providers got would depend on their audience.”
It’s a reasonable idea and seems more palatable than other such concepts, but the general notion of charging for content online still raises questions in my mind.
Weigh in: What do you think about Wasserman’s ideas and what the future could hold for journalism’s financial support?
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Isn’t that still the old micropayment dream?