By Laura Hazard Owen on PaidContent, Oct. 11, 2011
Students work for their college newspapers for all sorts of reasons—and while college papers are sheltered from the harsh realities facing national and local newspapers in many ways, it’s probably never too early for a crash course in revenue models. Hence the new collaboration between digital subscription company Press+ and the Knight Foundation: Starting today, the first 50 college newspapers to sign up with Press+ will be able to install free meters on their websites, allowing them to collect donations and subscription fees from readers.
Press+, which is owned by RR Donnelley (NSDQ: RRD) and already operates metered paywalls for “grownup” newspapers like the Baltimore Sunand many MediaNews Group and Lee papers, says it is “providing students with a sustainable way to target parents, alumni, and other engaged readers for donations or subscriptions.