CNN is coming out with an iPhone application Tuesday that has a feature few other news apps have tried: a price tag.
There has been a lot of talk this year about finally charging readers for news, especially on mobile devices, where media executives see a chance to condition consumers to handing over a few dollars for a constant stream of updates to their pocket. CNN is among the first big news outlets to give it a shot. Its app costs $1.99 to download.
The new app follows an announcement this month by News Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch that the company will start charging a subscription for access to The Wall Street Journal’s mobile applications. It will cost $2 a week starting Oct. 24, or $1 when bundled with either a print or a Web site subscription (Subscribers of both print and online get the mobile app for free).
Even so, CNN is in relatively new territory as a provider of general interest news. Many in the industry are skeptical that readers will pay for much online beyond business and financial reporting — the kind of stuff that helps people make money. How CNN fares in selling its app on Apple Inc.’s iTunes store for the iPhone and the iPod Touch will be closely watched by other media companies as they struggle with the loss of advertising dollars to the Web.
So why does CNN think readers will pay for its iPhone app instead of choosing one of its myriad free competitors?
Simply put, CNN thinks its app is better.
“It really depends on the quality and nature of what you’re putting into the market,” said KC Estenson, general manager for CNN.com.
Among the high points of the CNN app: It offers the chance to essentially join the CNN reporting team. Readers are invited to submit their…