News Start-ups Struggle to Put a “Price on Words”
Two NY start-ups, The Faster Times and True/Slant, were profiled in a NY Times Magazine article about web journalism models. Both are struggling with how to profit from new media.The Faster Times was started by Sam Apple, formerly of Nerve.com. Apple couldn't offer salaries and benefits or flat rate freelance fees, so he promised contributors 75% of revenues from ads placed near articles. Contributors profit from their work, according to the market's assessment of its value.
A second news web site called True/Slant, now has about a million visitors monthly, and works with 300 part-time entrepreneurial contributors. The site, built on a $3 million investment from Fuse Capital and Forbes Media, experiments with the idea that technology can allow the creation of a news organization without editorial hierarchy. Freelancers are paid a pittance compared to traditional news rooms, the magazine said.
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