As the news publishing industry struggles to find a way of monetizing their online products, I’m realizing more and more that perhaps their business model doesn’t need to change that much.  Greater accessibility to global news and topics has caused some alarm as we no longer rely on just one source for a story.  That aside, the quality of the journalism and the editorial content is still where the value will always be. Supporting your local news source will be an important responsibility of news readers as we don’t want our community voice to disappear.

Devices such as the Kindle are offering an interesting solution to how readers will get even more value out of their news experience. So what are you paying for when you subscribe to an online version of your local paper using the Kindle? You are paying for the same content as the paper version of course, and the ability to take your paper with you and read it wherever you go.  There are no wireless fees with Kindle – Amazon pays for the 3G cellular network and the cost would be included in the subscription fee for the content. Sounds pretty good for the reader so far? Oh yes, and the added benefit of not getting newsprint on your hands.

The transition for the Newspaper will mean having to tap into more revenue streams to make up for the fact that a portion of the subscription fee will pay for portability.  I believe that once the first few newspapers take the big leap and starts replacing print and delivery costs with electronic delivery and network fees, the product will end up ahead in profitability. By the time that happens, other revenue streams that newspapers are implementing online will have made up for some of the losses.  I think the model that Kindle is using is great, the question is:  will Kindle be to News what i-Tunes has been to music? Will this device be the one to get Newspapers to start making that final leap of faith? A lot remains to be seen but I don’t think we’ll have to wait too long to find out.