Can IrishCycle.com work as reader-supported journalism?

Hello readers of IrishCycle.com, I’m looking at writing up a business plan for IrishCycle.com — there’s more than enough to cover with cycling in Ireland and related issues to make it a full time job, but can it work as reader-supported journalism? Maybe even part-time?

Due to unrelated work, family and life in general, going ahead as it is now will not be sustainable.

I’m looking at models and something between BikePortland.org and StrongTowns keeps coming up, but I think the value in IrishCycle.com is mainly sticking to the journalism side of things — ie news, and comment and analysis. There’s ample general examples of reader or listener -supported media including Dublininquirer.com and Second Captains, in Ireland.

But, unlike some examples, IrishCycle.com doesn’t see its future behind a subscriber-only model. Not to be too high-minded, but to steal a phrase from The Guardian, this website also wants to be a “strong, progressive force that is open for all”. I believe the journalism of IrishCycle.com can help inform debate around cycling in Ireland and also shine a light on on-going issues which are big and small, local and national.

While IrishCycle.com is seen as having an advocacy element, I mainly view this as “here’s how it could be better” articles or campaigning journalism (ie much like The Times of London’s Fit for Cycling or The Guardian’s keep it in the ground campaign, or that’s more common in UK-based local newspapers etc).

Your input on this is very welcomed — questions, comments, or advise… drop a reply below, or direct message on Twitter, or email cian.ginty@gmail.com. You can also help by filling out the below twitter poll.

Thanks,

Cian Ginty
Editor, IrishCycle.com

ALSO SEE: DRAFT IrishCycle.com – Business Model Canvas


...That's the end of the article. Keep scrolling if you want to the comments, but IrishCycle.com *NEEDS* readers like you to keep it that way. It only requires a small percentage of readers to give a bit each month or every year to keep IrishCycle.com's journalism open to all. Thank you.


2 comments

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.