Web Content Breathes Life Into Magazines

Circulation is down and Web content is taking over: what's a magazine to do? Milk the Internet for all it's worth and gather a plethora of content on the cheap, Newsweek reports. Publisher 8020 fills its travel and photography magazines with content submitted by readers via the web; its JPG buys all its content at $100 a pop from 20,000 monthly submissions.

With fewer salaries to pay and content that’s virtually free, 8020 seems like the savior the industry has been awaiting. No word yet on what happens when a newer trend draws away the publications’ content stream, but publishers can take some solace in knowing that print is still valued: "It's definitely different seeing something on the page and holding it," says one 8020 contributor. (More online media stories.)