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Walter Isaacson, in the Feb. 16, 2009 issue of Time Magazine, has portrayed the funding crisis that U.S. newspapers are now facing, and he has opened a channel for receiving solutions. My suggestion, based on a content-reseller model, follows.One reseller service I use is funded indirectly through taxes. It is the Louisiana Library Connection Databases which is available through membership to the Louisiana Public Library system. This service provides library patrons with a score of databases including Newsbank, which accesses nine major Louisiana newspapers, many national news magazines and a host of selected news channels. The databases are paid for by the state and selected by state and library officials.
Except for the method of payment, this model is similar to subscribing to cable or satellite television content, whereby individuals choose which bundle of programs to pay for and receive. It is also similar to the one-stop virtual stores where subscriptions can be purchased to a variety of print magazines from a single location.
Based on these models, newspapers can designate one or more content resellers that would administer the distribution of news to subscribers who, in turn, would have a wide choice of newspapers to access. Paid subscriptions would be based on the newspapers selected and include access to their archives. In turn, the resellers would remit to each newspaper a portion of the fees collected in accordance with the number of subscriptions to that newspaper.
I cherish the printed page and its preservation for future generations, and I am disturbed that smaller, independent local newspapers can disappear for lack of subscribers. Such papers have access to local news and opinions that often are vital to the local electorate and worthy of public attention even if they do not progress to the national stage. As more and more papers publish their content on line, it is critical that this trend produces an income stream in addition to advertising to support that effort.
To a large extent, our freedoms are dependent on freedom of the press which, in turn, requires the existence of an independent press. To that end, the resellers of journalists’ labors could play an important role in averting the tragedy of empty news pages or access to only corporate or governmental opinions.
