Profits in Web News? Maybe

Dec 04 1998

We all know that doing news on the Web is currently a financial "black hole," right? Well, that may be starting to change, according to a piece in the Columbia Journalism Review by John Pavlik, director of Columbia's Center for New Media. The article studies sites as diverse as TheStreet.com and Thomson Newspaper Corporation's 20 Web properties and finds both creative accounting and some honest-to-goodness black ink on the books. In Thomson's case, the revenue jump comes from a surcharge for classified ads that also appear online. And more specialized sites like the National Journal's Cloakroom are making money by charging for access. Among the most interesting cases is that of Channel 4000 in Minneapolis-St. Paul, a midwestern property that focuses on news, sports and weather, and culls revenue from ad banners, paid links and a growing e-commerce program that builds storefronts for local vendors. Though it's not as well known in new-media circles as some of its highly leveraged brethren, Channel 4000 grabbed the best news site honors from the National Press Club and is clearly making an impact on its local economy. How many news sites can make that claim?

Finally, a Peek at Profits: Some News Sites Find the Formula
Columbia Journalism Review