Laid off journalists to get free premium blog account
With layoffs at newspapers continuing as media companies grope with reduced revenue and circulation, at least one company hopes to help. Six Apart, a software vendor that makes the popular TypePad and MoveableType blogging platforms, has launched the “TypePad Journalist Bailout Program.”
The idea is that TypePad will give terminated journalists a free pro account that normaly costs $150 a year. Journalists will also tech support, placement on the company’s blog aggregation site, Blogs.com, and automatic enrollment in the Six Apart advertising revenue-sharing program.
The catch: only 20-30 journalists will be accepted. Which makes the whole program seem more of a publicity stunt than an offer of true value. Nevertheless, some 300 e-mail applications have already come in.
