Struggling US newspapers look to e-readers

0 Comments | AFP, May, 2009

WASHINGTON (AFP) — As US newspapers drown in a sea of red ink, publishers are desperately searching for ways to survive in a digital future.

Some are toying with the idea of charging readers for news on the Web while others are ganging up to extract money from powerful aggregators such as Google News which link to their articles.

Online advertising is seen as a potential savior in some newsrooms although it currently accounts for less than 15 percent of revenue at most US dailies.

Another proposal gaining currency is selling digital subscriptions through electronic readers similar to Amazon's popular Kindle.

Rupert Murdoch's News Corp., newspaper and magazine publisher Hearst and California-based start-up Plastic Logic are among the companies known to be...