Can newspapers survive by begging?
This holiday season, many people will get into the spirit of giving by donating to charities. But generous South Floridians have another option — The Miami Herald. The region’s paper of record has been hit hard by cutbacks, layoffs, and revenue declines facing most of the newspaper industry, and it has started posting a link at the bottom of each story, saying, “If you value The Miami Herald’s local news reporting and investigations, but prefer the convenience of the Internet, please consider a voluntary payment for the web news that matters to you.” Can asking readers for spare change help save newspapers? Don’t laugh — donations might help: “The Miami Herald is taking a page out of Wikipedia’s playbook,” says Danny Shea in The Huffington Post. The online, user-updated encyclopedia is run by the nonprofit Wikimedia Foundation, and every year it gets a financial shot in the arm from an “appeal for readers to donate for the free service.” Last year’s campaign raised $3 million over 10
