John Temple is running a series describing how journalists are reinventing themselves. If the installments that follow are half as inspiring and entertaining as ME Sprengelmeyer’s opener, it’s going to be a fun ride. Give ’em hell, ME.
A group of Rocky Mountain News journalists announced today the creation of In Denver Times, which will be a subscription site if they can get enough folks to pledge support by a self-imposed April 23 deadline. It’s an interesting idea. A few thoughts:
1. If they get the 50k subscribers they’re chasing, it’s worth about $250k per month to them at the discounted annual subscription rate of $4.99 month. That ain’t chump change.
2. The major danger they face is that folks will subscribe out of sympathy for the cause and then drift off, failing to re-subscribe when the time comes. Retention will be critical.
3. To thwart that, they’re going to have to offer some damned compelling content on that site. And these folks are capable of it. They’re an amazing group of journalists.
Should be interesting to watch. Now I have to go pledge my support …