The Dish-y path to reader-supported publishing
Have I written about Andrew Sullivan’s attempt to make his long-running blog The Dish a sustainable media enterprise? Ah, only in passing. Time to correct that.
The Dish has been on my reading list for as long as I can remember. Sullivan’s work was a huge influence on me in my early days as a blogger (over a decade ago…). But what makes his current campaign to make The Dish pay its own way is that he’s not starting where most bloggers do – with just themselves to support. No, he’s got a team of writers and interns, and he’s aiming to do it without ads or venture capital backing. It’s going well:
With your help, and with six weeks to go, we’re now at $807K in our first year revenue, closing in on our goal of $900K. Tinypass made that possible; you made it happen. If you are a regular reader of the Dish, all we ask is that you consider if what we provide each day is worth $1.99 a month or $19.99 a year. If it is, please subscribe.
I’ve been a subscriber for over 10 months, and I’m really hoping he hits his target. As he says himself:
As you can see, this model is not just about us. It’s about building a future for a whole range of new media on the ashes of the old.
That’s really the key point here – is there scope for small online businesses built around blogging sustained by the readers? If the answer is “yes”, then we have a very interesting future ahead of us…
Sign up for e-mail updates
Join the newsletter to receive the latest posts in your inbox.
Some Good Reading About The Future of News Paid Members Public
Good stuff I’ve read recently, haven’t linked to yet, but don’t have much to add to right now: * The Nichepaper Manifesto [http://blogs.harvardbusiness.org/haque/2009/07/the_nichepaper_manifesto.html] – an articulate and well argued guide to how niche publishing might looks going forwards. * Media