22 April 2010 | Author: J. Morton News Editor

News to the highest bidder? Ebay founder starts online news outlet

With the dawn and eventual dominance of internet news - Yahoo! News, for example netted 43 million visitors in February 2010 alone, roughly the population of Spain - it has been a long-standing dream to launch a successful subscription news service online.

Now, the pioneer behind one wildly successful - though at the time, perhaps implausible - internet start-up seeks to do just that.

Pierre Omidyar, chairman and founder of eBay, hopes to notch another web success story with his online new service, currently set to be available in the US State of Hawaii. The web pioneer says he hopes the service will prove it's possible to do journalism in a new way, one which connects with the community in better ways than traditional news.

"I think that is what's been lacking," he told the Guardian. "Because the industry has been preoccupied with its own decline, it hasn't had the opportunity to reinvent itself."

"Journalism plays a central role in the way democracy works, especially in this country. And our democracy doesn't work when journalism doesn't work," Omidyar said.

The web guru decided several years ago that he would create a site dedicated to local civil news, and hopes Civilbeat.com proves to be a sustainable and worthwhile enterprise.

Civilbeat.com will feature hosts who post articles, but will also engage with the community through discussion and feedback. However, in contrast with many traditional talkback sections, commentators will be identified, with no anonymous posts allowed, making citizens responsible.

Identity insurance will be maintained by the site's subscription service, Omidyar said.

According to the Guardian article, the site will be overseen by a well-experienced editor, John Temple, formerly of the Rocky Mountain News.

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