Paid for News Can Work

Rupert Murdock plans for all his newspaper sites to have paid for content. A plan many think won't work as a pay wall will stop people linking to the site and stop the casual reader, reading anything other than the headlines.

Of course in America there is a perceived news bias. There is now an emergence of paid for news which is paid for by the users.

One example of video news is The Real News which is an independent daily video and documentary news service. The Real News does not accept any government or corporate funding only user funding and do not carry any adverts. The idea behind it is to allow themselves to act fully independently and follows facts to rational conclusions rather than a biased conclusion or comment.

The Real News service is geared toward the US. But it is proof that people will pay for news if it offers what they are looking for and there doesn't appear to be any other alternatives.

The Real News Network can be found here

Another good idea is also developing, this time in the UK. UK Indymedia is a UK based independent collection of grassroots network. It uses a number of individuals, independent groups and alternative media activists who use the site for social and economic news. They again are not funded by the corporate media and is not owned by any individual or corporation.

It is a response really to the corporate infulenced news and often aims to tell the other side of the story. It also gives a voice to the many activist's out there who are fighting the 'system' in many different ways. An important check on the mainstream news I feel.

The Indemedia Network can be found here.

It appears that if you do it right and you offer what the customer wants (like say the FT does) then paid for news can work.

I am also amazed at what news doesn't get widely reported, perhaps these web sites can address the balance

Is this the real freedom of the press? I expect to see more of these sites as time passes, whatever happens, the news is going to change and will not be the same, for good or for bad.