Civil Beat drops subscription model
Online news site Civil Beat celebrated its sixth anniversary today by removing its paywall, accord to a posting by Patti Epler, editor and general manager.
“You no longer need a subscription to read every single story, past and present, on Civil Beat,” said Epler online.
Epler said Civil Beat, whose benefactor is Pierre Omidyar and has a staff of 14 journalists, is now a nonprofit organization.
“Our application is pending with the IRS. And in the meantime, we have joined the Institute for Nonprofit News, a coalition of more than 100 nonprofit newsrooms across the U.S., including the Texas Tribune, Voice of San Diego, the Center for Public Integrity and many, many others,” she added.
Epler said Civil Beat also plans to launch a major marketing campaign this week.
12 responses to “Civil Beat drops subscription model”
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das why i stopped reading you guys
now free? k den
CB is a wonderful source of news! Glad to see that now even people who can’t/won’t pay will read it! That’s where the real news is!
agree… the best in town!
Sweet! Mahalo to Pierre Omidyar and the CB Ohana.
You need to be a success before you try to charge!
Or an established, local Old Boy network organization such as this.
Anybody know if there’s a process for stopping the subscription/can it be used as a tax-deductible contribution?
Star Advertiser; when will you be dropping your paywall?
Highly unlikely…
They have been trying lately to give away their paper on the BYU-Hawaii Campus…..no one is reading them……for college kids, news is all via smart phones (if they even look).
It’s so foolish for us to want our newspaper sites to be free. That keeps papers beholden to advertisers and/or the wealthy, versus the community. But everyone unthinkingly wants media to be free, then complains when things don’t get reported/exposed.
Not so fast. Can’t do everything for free. Would you work for free? Didn’t think so.
Not enough advertising revenue for the SA to not charge. Still at less than $5 a month to read online a deal. Less than a trip to Starbucks.
Great news about a great news source. Thank you!