" 'Free', as a business model, is a figment of the imagination.
"In itself, 'Free' is not a business model, it is only a component of a broader revenue system," says
Frédéric Filloux, editor for the international division of the Norwegian media giant
Schibsted ASA and co-author of the
Monday Note .
"Unlike Chris Anderson, author of the book 'Free' ($18.00) — a best
seller not a best
freebie — I happened to actually practice the free 'model'," continues Filloux, a former managing editor of Liberation who was also a founder of one of the most successful free quality daily newspapers in the world.
20 minutes is now the most read newspaper in France with 2.7m readers in eight major cities.
On 29th October, Filloux will join the discussion the 13th Journalism Leaders Forum discussion,
Paywalls: build them, break them - or look beyond them.
Also on the international panel are:
- Gordon Crovitz, the former Wall Street Journal publisher behind the paid-content startup, JournalismOnline
- Peter Bale is the Executive Producer of Microsoft UK, responsible for content on platforms including MSN UK – the largest commercial portal in the UK. He joined Microsoft from News Corporation where he was online editorial director of The Times and The Sunday Times. He was a founder of FTMarketWatch.com and was a Reuters correspondent and editor for most of his career.
- Martha Stone, director of the Shaping the Future of the Newspaper project of the World Association of Newspapers-IFRA
- Robert Andrews, UK Editor of paidContent.com, for the 13th Journalism Leaders Forum in Preston.
- François Nel, director of the Journalism Leaders Programme at UCLan, will be in the chair.
To attend the open Forum at 6pm in
Greenbank Lecture Theatre - as well as the reception from 5pm -
please register HERE soonest. There is no charge, but seating is limited.
If you can't be there in person, you can also participate online. The Forum will be Webcast live. More details
here. [Log in as a guest].