3-5 page Essay - Media Management and Innovation

From Wikipedia:

INDenver Times and the Rocky Mountain Independent

On March 16, 2009, several former Rocky Mountain News staffers announced a plan to develop a new on-line, real-time local newspaper, with a staff of about 30 journalists. The plan required 50,000 subscriber pledges before April 23, 2009; if that goal was met, the full website, with the name INDenver Times, would launch on May 4, 2009. On April 23, 2009, INDenver Times, the name for the proposed restart, reported that only 3,000 people had subscribed to the premium content subscription model. [12] The three co-founders said that they did not intend to continue the planned business model, and, instead, would create a less-staffed news site, while Steve Foster and several former Rocky Mountain News journalists said that they believed that the original business model of a robustly staffed on-line alternative newspaper could succeed and were looking for new backers. [13]

INDenver Times, still on-line as of April 2018, does not use the subscription model, instead depending on advertising for its revenue. As of October 2013, the three co-founders Kevin Prebuld, Brad Gray, and Ben Ray, editor Steve Haigh, and contributors Drew Litton and Ed Stein were the only remaining staff from the original venture. [14] The site relies on 15 contributors and six "INSighters". On September 7, 2009, INDT.com unveiled a new website design, allowing readers to read the news in a more organized format.

On July 4, 2009, Steve Foster and several former Rocky Mountain News employees launched a new venture known as the Rocky Mountain Independent. The new website used a three-pronged revenue strategy: advertising, subscription revenues, and outside contributors. Subscriptions cost $4.00 per month and yearly subscriptions were 50% for the first three months, at $24. The 12 owners of the website committed to working for free until the end of September 2009. [15] [16] The website stopped publishing new content on October 5, 2009. [17]

12. Roberts, Michael (April 23, 2009). "INDenver Times: The official response" . Westword (Blog). Retrieved October 9, 2013.

13.  "INDenver Times investors, staffers to part ways". North Colorado Business Report. April 24, 2009. Archived from the original on July 14, 2011.

14.  "Meet our Staff and Contributors". INDenverTimes.com. Archived from the original on October 25, 2013.

15.  Roberts, Michael (July 6, 2009). "Behind the launch of the Rocky Mountain Independent" . Westword (Blog). Retrieved October 9, 2013.

16. "New models, new challenges" . iwantmyrocky.com. August 27, 2009. Archived from the original on December 17, 2009.

17. Tomasic, John (October 2, 2009). "Rocky Mountain Independent, online magazine experiment, folds" . The Colorado Independent (Blog). Retrieved October 9, 2013.