It’s hard to think of paying for something we’ve been given for free all these years, but the days of openly available news on the Internet may be coming to an end thanks to Journalism Online.

The service was announced on April 14:

Citing “the urgent need” for a comprehensive, immediate plan to address the downward spiral in the business of publishing original, quality journalism, experienced journalism and media industry executives Steven Brill, Gordon Crovitz, and Leo Hindery today announced the formation of Journalism Online, a company that will quickly facilitate the ability of newspaper, magazine and online publishers to realize revenue from the digital distribution of the original journalism they produce. – Company Will Be Global Platform for Easy Payment Option Enabling New Revenue Models For News In Time of Crisis

Renay San Miguel of TechNewsWorld takes a closer look in his article “How Much Would You Pay for That Online News Story?” It’s a very interesting read.

I’m still suspicious that any of this will be successful, at least on a grand scale. There is, without a doubt, a market for news online. There’s even a market for subscription-based news online. But is there a large enough market for news online via micro-transactions and subscriptions? Will the general public embrace such a format, perhaps in the same way they have embraced Itunes? Or will it fail to catch on and simply be marked as one, final death-throe in the failing life of professional journalism?

There are also the issues of piracy and the general speed and openness of information on the Internet. Things are leaked, articles are quoted, news is spread. How do you control something like that? It will be interesting to see how this all turns out.

Journalism Online is scheduled to go live sometime this fall.