Flemish media joint platform for news sites

The Flemish media companies want a joint platform set up for all news sites in Flanders. Both websites of magazines and newspapers as well as channels from the platform.

The Belgian publishing house Roularta Media Group wants for all Flemish media, a joint online platform build, which can be paid for content. That reports the Belgian newspaper De Standaard. On some news websites have already been paid to the older articles to read. The publishers want there to be a collective payment system, but are still in consultation about the type of system and the construction of it. The consultation will take place at the Media Innovation Centre, a knowledge and research centre that aims to drive innovation in the media sector.

Rik De Nolf, ceo of RMG, was referring to Slovenia and Slovakia, where all common betaalmuren exist. The Belgian publishing house De Persgroep is, however, not a closed paywall. The company wants a solution that the investments of the publishers better protects. Thereby, the Flemish would be a lot to be critical of paywalls, says the company.

Betaalmuren for online media and have long been a thorny issue, but in some cases it worked out very well. So have The Times and The Wall Street Journal, successful sites that the paywall system. Recently started in the Netherlands some of the sites of publisher Wegener behind a betaalmuur.