Andrew Rice
contributes a lengthy feature this Sunday to the New York Times Magazine on the economics of journalism in the digital age. In essence, and to say the least, he concludes it's challenging.
Rice examines several start-ups, from
True/Slant to
The Awl to
Faster Times, and reflects the general view that advertising and subscription support of quality in the digital age is --- for the time being, anyway --- more than a little daunting.
"No one seems to know how to value the product anymore," Rice writes.
That said, even stripped of the romanticism of the start-ups, Rice concludes that many may offer new models for sustainability. Just not soon, he seems to say.