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More fresh thoughts on journalism.

Over on Advertising Age, Judy Shapiro presents an interesting argument for why charging for content will fail and how journalism can save itself through community building. In a nutshell, Shapiro suggests that there is too much content and too many leaks for any sort of gated content to succeed. Instead, she says, journalists should focus on fostering community on their Web sites, an approach that would build loyalty, lower bounce rates, and offer a unique, compelling user experience. If all works as Shapiro says, users will be more likely to purchase products or services, Web sites will be able to leverage their user base, and ad revenue will surge.

Although Shaprio doesn't state it explicitly, her solution has the airs of social networking models, such as Facebook, which has completely invested in the value of relationships—ads based on relationships, suggested fan pages based on relationships and user information based on relationships, for instance. Not a bad idea, but I wonder to what extent this approach as already been attempted. My intial reaction is to look toward companies like Gannett, which tried to create a community experience through hyperlocalism, blogs, and the community platform called Topix. Also, sites such as Chow seems to thrive in its community, and I wonder how well they are doing. 

In a broad view, Shapiro's point make sense: Can we expand the services of a journalism outlet to do more than just provide the headlines? And, let's continue to think about ways to monetize quality information and well-run Web sites besides directly charging for content.

Do you think Shapiro's solution will work? To understand it fully, read the article.

By Noelle Chun