Thursday The Athens Messenger launched a new site (or, rather, moved their site to a new domain and put up a different header). They’re calling it “AthensOhioToday.com,” and the idea is that they’re putting up their newspaper content behind a paywall and then filling the site with free-to-access user-generated PSAs, photos, etc.

It seems their goal could be one of two things. Either they’re taking the CNN approach, where they can create more content without paying people to do it, or they’re hoping that by mimicking social media they’ll somehow increase their plummeting subscription base. Either way, is it going to work?

Will the fact that they’re a newspaper make people more likely to share things on their site, or are people already reaching a big enough audience by self-publishing on Facebook and Twitter? Will free content about upcoming recycling opportunities make people want to subscribe to The Messenger’s articles, or will people just continue to wait for Monday and Thursday when the same stories appear for free in the A-NEWS?

What do you think?

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