Goodbye New Matilda. You'll be missed
Awww… that is sad.
New Matilda – a superb and long-lasting, Australian independent news and commentary website – has announced that its closing its doors. You can read the article here: http://newmatilda.com/2010/05/27/new-matilda-fold.
The reasoning will come as no surprise; they’re not making enough money.
They used to have a subscription service though dropped it for the frothing, euphoric promises of online advertising. Of course, it is unlikely that a subscription model would have saved them, though that is a different blog.
I have long argued that there really isn’t an obvious model for the Sydney Morning Herald online and I believe New Matilda proves it. The costs of running an excellent news website is currently, much more than the possible revenue from subscription, advertising, affiliates and the rest. You can bet too, that New Matilda runs a much leaner operation than Fairfax, with its waterfront operations and executive bathrooms.
Maybe the iPad will be the savior of these newspapers and news websites, though it’s too late for New Matilda.
A sad day for the Australian web and well written, independent news.
