iTimes

Some newspapers are entertaining the thought of using the iTunes model of charging for content in order to save their dying business and ressurect like the music industry did when Steve Jobs and Apple came out with the bright idea.

I say that Steve Lopez can be the next J. Lo.

Instead of thinking small like the music industry did during the napster days, U.S. newspapers should be confident that readers will follow good content.

iTunes illustrates that consumers will choose to pay for content if it is packaged correctly and is easy to use.

What has been proposed by some is to do micro-payments for each article... this would certainly be a big flop and just confuse the consumer to a point where he doesn't want to read the news anymore.

David Lazarus from the Los Angeles Times bought up an idea that I'd buy: "Digital readers would pay a monthly fee -- let's say $10 -- and in return they'd have full access to the likes of the New York Times, the Washington Post, the L.A. Times and any other paper that wants to be part of the consortium ...the more the merrier."

Genius.

The biggest set-back to charging readers for content would be that they can turn to another publication for that same information. However, if we tie up the nation's highest circulating newspapers and package them for the consumer then business picks up.

The perfect senario: most newspapers see that they have to do something to stay afloat so they agree to be part of this package idea. Then, consumers can pick the newspapers they want to subscribe to within this bubble and get charged accordingly.

For instance, if I lived in L.A. and wanted some local news and other content from out-of-state publications, my menu would look like this:

1. L.A. Times

2. Pasadena Star-News

3. New York Times

4. Washington Post

I would pay a standard price for the first few and then add some change for every additional publication. This way we cater to the news junkies without deterring the average reader from subscribing to their minimal news selections.

What I would like to see is news catered to my interests. I'd like to have it delivered to my phone and emailed to me. I would like subscription payments to be monthly and at a price that is reasonable. Note: I would not pay more than $1o a month for this service.