Blendle is a platform that lets readers make micropayments to access news articles behind paywalls without having to subscribe.
The journalism industry is facing tough decisions on how to stay profitable with an increasingly digital audience. With so much news available for free, and such a wide variety of other content to choose from, many media outlets and newspapers are turning to paywalls to monetize their websites. However, inevitably, this can reduce the traffic and exposure of their articles, not to mention put off readers.
A journalism app is trying meet this challenge by allowing readers to pay small sums to access individual articles online. Blendle is a premium journalism platform that enables users to pay for and enjoy articles that are behind paywalls without subscribing, paying as little as US$25 cents per article. A list of curated stories is sent to their inbox and they can choose which ones to access. They can even ask for refunds if they weren’t satisfied with a piece. The app has now been launched to beta users in the USA and has signed up some of the biggest names in US journalism, including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Time and The Economist.
On a blog on medium, Blendle co-founder Alexander Klópping said:
‘Journalism needs a Spotify, a Netflix, an iTunes – whatever you want to call it – one website that houses the best newspapers and magazines in the country.’
Klópping is a former technology journalist and he saw the need for a platform like these for journalism, where paying for content would feel like second nature. He noted how it was wrong that he had to visit many different website to read the articles he liked, only to find much of the content behind paywalls. He was frustrated by constantly dealing with pop-up ads as he tried to read the articles he did have free access to. As with so many readers, he relied on Facebook and Twitter to supply him with news and online magazine content. This raised the problem of having to sift through all the noise and clickbait and decide for himself what was real journalism.
Readers have become used to being able to access so much of their online news for free that it may not be instantly agreeable or natural for them to start paying for content again. There will have to be a transitional period, during which they get used to a small fee being the norm. It is also important that there be a marked difference in the quality and reading experience between free content and paid-for content. Once a user has paid to view an article – even if it is only a few cents – they can expect to be spared irritating ads and pop-ups that have become a mainstay of online content but make for a significantly less enjoyable reading experience.
With new platforms for journalism such as Perspecs, a news aggregation app that provides three differing views or predictions for each story, and Byline, a London-based start-up that crowdfunds independent, long-form journalism, it is clear that journalism is not extinct but simply evolving.
__TAKEAWAYS
Website: launch.blendle.com
Contact: contact@blendle.com
Innovation name: Blendle
Countries: The Netherlands and United States
Industries: Entertainment & culture / Financial services & fin tech / Marketing & advertising / Written word