In light of the Rupert Murdoch announcement and the poor show for established newspapers around the world, the only model that makes sense to me is the paid referral:

News websites should be built so that the link to the article is not seen or copied. If you want to forward the article/email/retweet you get credits to view another two articles.
The recipients of your link get to see the article, natch. The site continues with advertising on the article page.

If you aren’t a broadcaster, you can get a widget or feed of the news into your website/facebook page. If you agree, you will get access to the site or an email digest or both.

Sound familiar? Is Googlenomics – let the crowd do the viral work for you and have a net to maximise the reach.

From The Telegraph 19 Nov 2009: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/investing/shares/6588959/How-to-buy-shares-with-perks.html

How to buy shares with perks

Consumers can gain benefits ranging from thousands of pounds off the price of a new home to a 30pc discount on Eurotunnel travel just for holding shares in certain companies.

Société Générale tells clients how to prepare for ‘global collapse’

Société Générale has advised clients to be ready for a possible “global economic collapse” over the next two years, mapping a strategy of defensive investments to avoid wealth destruction.

Electronic communication to shareholders is a philosophy as much as a practice – where possible collect email and mobile addresses of your shareholders to communicate directly, and cut down the costs associated with being a listed company, eg on the JSE.

Polar Bear

1. Because there is an argument for and against, there is doubt. Which means there is no consensus, so policy shouldn’t change. If the water is muddied enough, no-one can tell if there is or isn’t something in the water.
2. The signs are there for climate change and for electronic comms, it is a visible thesis. This is the reason that both phenomena have legs, because we witness climate change and we witness greater use of electronic delivery.
3. The toothpaste can not be put back in the tube. We can set a level of sustainability of life, but all the seas of plastic and remnants of carbon will be here for a long time to come. In the same way, the internet and email can not be stopped.
4. Change will come from below. Our generation and those before had different mandates, so the kids will have to fix this mess. Ergo, the Digital Natives wrote school assignments on computers and with the internet. They are now administering your pension fund and don’t know what a masthead is…
5. These problems come at the right time to create a perfect storm, which means the problem will either be faced and solved or not. Environmental issues (ironically!), shareholder activism, financial crisis et al have demanded that we look at electronic comms.
6. The world expects instant information and instant fixes. The battles between bank queues and online banking, tax returns and e-filing,  memos and email have been won.
7. It is an obligation to be fulfilled – looking after the environment is a legacy issue for generations to come; communicating to shareholders, to those who fund your growth, in their preferred manner is a duty.