A guest post on Write Thinking, from (former) freelance journalist Roy H. Rubenstein on the launch of his new online magazine and how he’s set up sponsorship for the venture.
A specialist journalist (his new site Gazettabyte covers opticom developments in the datacom and telecom industries), Rubenstein had been freelancing for six years for a magazine, which was closed in July.
“I now have my own title. No more surprise phone calls telling me to stop writing as the magazine is about to fold,” he writes.
slight issue in that it looks like the venture is funded by the companies he may well be writing about. good idea tho….
Bill, you are correct.
The guidelines are spelled out on the gazettabyte site as to the arrangement with the sponsors but the real test will be the readers. If they feel they are being served advertorials the venture is doomed.
I have though a lot about this and the solution I am adopting is to separate editorial for “sales”. When I write, I select the leading companies to speak with on a chosen topic whether they are sponsors or not. That said, each of the sponsors fall into that category for at least one of the eight planned in-depth features, and that is what I’ve committed to.
This approach is the also the simplest; any other strategy undermines editorial integrity.
Check in with me in six months’ and a year’s time, when I’ll be wiser.
Roy Rubenstein, gazettabyte
Bill, you are correct.
The guidelines are spelled out on the gazettabyte site as to the arrangement with the sponsors but the real test will be the readers. If they feel they are being served advertorials the venture is doomed.
I have thought a lot about this and the solution I am adopting is to separate editorial for “sales”. When I write, I select the leading companies to speak with on a chosen topic whether they are sponsors or not. That said, each of the sponsors fall into that category for at least one of the eight planned in-depth features, and that is what I’ve committed to.
This approach is also the simplest; any other strategy undermines editorial integrity.
Check in with me in six months’ and a year’s time, when I’ll be wiser.
Roy Rubenstein, gazettabyte