January 3, 2013 | Arts / Entertainment

Andrew Sullivan wants you to pay

Well-known political blogger Andrew Sullivan has announced that he is leaving The Daily Beast. He has written a column called The Dish for the website for several years, but decided it was time to explore online publishing on his own. His aim is to create a site focusing on gay news and politics that is fully supported by the readers. In other words, he wants you to pay to read his stuff.

AndrewSullivan.com will launch early this year and cost $1.67 a month or $19.99 a year.

He explained his decision on his blog: "As usual, we sought your input and the blogosphere's — hence the not-terribly subtle thread that explored whether online readers will ever pay for content, and how. The answer is: no one really knows. But as we debated and discussed that unknowable future, we felt more and more that getting readers to pay a small amount for content was the only truly solid future for online journalism.

"... So it's over to you. We're in your hands. The meter won't start until February 1, but you can become a member now. It takes two minutes tops. ... We have no marketing, no ads, no corporation behind us now. We only have you."

The question is: are people willing to pay to get news and opinion on the Internet?