In Role Reversal, Inside.com Planning Print Version

Inside.com, a new Web site that covers the media and entertainment industries, has grabbed attention with edgy reporting, a big publicity budget and by operating on a paid-subscription model. So far, only a handful of Web sites--such as those run by the Wall Street Journal, Playboy and Consumer Reports--have been able to pull in an appreciable number of paying online customers, spurred by the strength of their print brands.

But in a role reversal born of commercial opportunity, Inside.com will soon launch a print version, said editor Michael Hirschorn.

With news media of all kinds struggling to build profitable businesses out of online journalism, Hirschorn predicted that Web-based news will yet prove to be a “killer app”--for selling print subscriptions.

Inside.com’s limited free articles will be a loss leader to sell subscriptions to both the fee-based portions of the site, plus the print product.

The New York-based company seems to be following the lead of what have ironically been among the biggest media success stories for the online journalism era--half a dozen print magazines devoted to covering the “new economy.” Editors of those ad-fat behemoths, such as the Industry Standard, Red Herring and Business 2.0, labor to generate enough editorial pages to avoid running afoul of Postal Service regulations that could designate them as shopping circulars rather than genuine periodicals.

Hirschorn would not set a date for the print-version debut, but has been in talks to partner with an existing magazine.