Nathan Richardson, the CEO of ContentNext Media (the parent firm of paidContent), has an essay on how Silicon Valley and the broader tech sector can help the challenged newspaper industry.
Richardson identifies several options, but rules out all but three fairly straightforward ones in the near term. He thinks such entities as Google, Microsoft, Yahoo and others can spearhead fairly significant but achievable approaches online to help newspaper Web sites:
1. Host an upfront, akin to what happens for TV, in developing a stable and predictable advertising base.
2. Agree on a per-click standard rate across publishing.
3. Show search results only for originating sources, not repurposing ones.
