The big discussion overseas among publishers (newspaper and magazine) this month is around micropayments – payment by consumers for individual articles. This topic was put on the radar earlier this year when raised by the publisher of Time magazine. Editors weblog has a good wrap up of the story as does Mediaweek. Eric Auchard writing at The Guardian weighs in with good points too.
This discussion is of interest to newsagents because it is about a more direct publisher consumer relationship, one based on a new, digital, supply chain and one where consumers pay for what they read (articles) rather than a package (whole newspapers and magazines).