Saturday 19 September 2009

How can Guardian monetise online?

Now that Guardian Media Group has lifted the axe hanging over the future of the Observer the main problem facing the the group is how to make money from its online journalism, according to an article in the Financial Times today.
It reports: "GMG and its sovereign body, the Scott Trust , have had heated internal debates, with senior staff questioning the level of investment in the lossmaking guardian.co.uk at a time of recession. 'When the future of the Observer has been resolved, the issue will remain for [the Scott Trust] of how do you monetise online,' a person with direct knowledge of recent high-level discussions said."
The FT story adds: "A measure of the extent of the challenges faced by GMG is that up to 150 of the 850 jobs across The Guardian, The Observer and the guardian.co.uk website will go as part of the review of strategy, several senior executives said. Under one of the plans being debated by group management, it was feared the ranks of journalists on the Observer could be reduced to as few as five full-time staff, although a senior editorial figure denied this and said the reduction in headcount would be relatively small."

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