Press+ Begins Deployment of Geo-Targeting/Meter Combo to Help Finance College Newspapers
Oklahoma State’s Daily O’Collegian first to launch
New York, December 1, 2010 — Press+, the e-commerce platform created by Journalism Online that enables digital news publishers to collect revenue from readers, today announced that it is adding additional services aimed at helping college newspapers generate income from avid off-campus readers, such as alumni and parents.
The Daily O’Collegian of Oklahoma State University will be the first college publication to launch the system on its website, ocolly.com, in early 2011. The paper will collect a small fee from online readers who are outside the school’s immediate geographic area and who do not use an email address with an .edu affiliation and who read the paper online more than three times a month. This is achieved by deploying two aspects of the Press+ platform in tandem: the “meter” technology combined with “geo-targeting” technology.
The O’Collegian has been in existence since 1895. Today, it’s read by the nearly 25,000 students, faculty and staff, and other actively engaged members of the Oklahoma State community.
“We've always known that the content our students produce has value well beyond the free drop distribution of our newspaper. Charging a modest fee to access our online content for non-students who live outside Stillwater helps us foster that belief,” said O'Collegian General Manager Ray Catalino.
“Obviously, a college newspaper should be provided for free to the college community it serves,” said Steven Brill, co-founder of Press+. “But if at the same time these papers can solicit modest but much-needed financial support from alumni, parents or others logging on regularly from outside the community, then the hard work of these dedicated young journalists can be sustained and enhanced. By using our metered model along with geo targeting, Press + is able to do exactly that.”
About Press+
The Press+ e-commerce platform, with over 1600 affiliates, launched on news sites across the country this past summer. It allows publishers to choose and adjust multiple options for paid access continually, with each publisher selecting its own business model, offerings, and pricing. This includes the “metered model” under which many readers will continue to access sites for free, while the most engaged readers will be asked to pay a modest charge for full access. Press+ gives consumers the convenience of one account and password to access their favorite web sites. For more information: www.mypressplus.com.
Contact:
Cindy Rosenthal, Director of Public Affairs, Press+
212-332-6406; cindy.rosenthal@journalismonline.com
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