News business models 2:Beyond the ordinary

Trends in Communication & Information TechnologyJOUR 4871-003

Online membership model gaining ground

Online membership model gaining ground

Rare for for-profit news siteFree content for anyone:NO PAYWALL!Members get special benefits$50/year ... OR pay $100, $150 to gift membership (students, seniors, etc.)Funds long-form political journalismLaunches Oct. 15, 2012

Invites to live chats with reporters and political figuresMembers-only commenting forumDownloading rights to ad-free mini-ebooks called TPM SinglesNon-members can buy TPM Singles

Member benefits

“If we put those 20,000 words on the front page of TPM, maybe it would get 5,000 views. It’s way too much of an investment of time in revenue terms, because it has to live or die on the pageview model.” -Josh Marshall

Crowd-funding: Platforms

Support crowd-funding: Investment crowd-funding:

Crowd-funding: Reporting projects

Crowd-funding: Photojournalism projects

Crowd-funding: Digital publications

Crowd-funding portals: for start-ups

Stock, not rewardsNot limited to “accredited investors” (up to $10K or 10% of investor’s income)Handles SEC regulations, legalMUCH cheaper than hiring lawyer(s) to do start-up on your ownFixed price: $1,995

Made possible in U.S. by the JOBS Act: Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act (signed into law by Obama in April 2012; implemented 2013)Restrictions on investors eased for crowd-fundingCan raise up to $1 million

Allows companies to raise small amounts of money from lots of people through a lightly regulated intermediary

Crowd-funding portals: for start-ups