The Miami Herald is exploring a new strategy to get money for their editorial content: asking online readers to donate. The McClatchy paper now asks for voluntary contributions at the end of each story and gives the option of choosing credit card payment options. If you click on the link that says “support ongoing news coverage,” you get to this page, which also asks for your contact info:
The Herald just started implementing this voluntary payment concept yesterday. Let’s see how many people actually value online news enough to pay up.
On another note… a Duluth News Tribune reader sent a $205 unsolicited check to the paper asking to be dropped from the print subscription, but supporting newsgathering efforts.
Could volunteer donors be a feasible answer? Will more newspapers follow suit?