Star-Tribune launches Kindle edition, other publishers wary

Posted by Emily Dilling on July 9, 2009 at 7:43 AM

The Minneapolis Star-Tribune has launched a black-and-white edition of its paper that can be read on a Kindle e-reader, Media Week reported.

The Kindle edition will cost either $10 per month or 75 cents per day, a 25 cent increase from the usual newsstand price.

Daily use of the e-reader edition is expected to cost $120 a year, while buying the print edition at full price seven days a week would total $220 a year. The Star-Tribune also offers an e-edition for a $114 yearly subscription. The E-reader format will reportedly have a similar layout to the print edition, including images, crossword puzzles, and classified ads.

Yet many publishers have said they believe Kindle isn't an important revenue stream, and may hurt them in the long run.

According to Dallas Morning News CEO James Moroney, Amazon wants 70 percent of any subscription revenues his paper earned via Kindle, as well as the right to republish the Morning News's articles on other devices, the Financial Times reported.

Rupert Murdoch announced in May that not only would News Corp. not be giving content rights to Kindle, the corporation plans to launch its own e-reader device for newspapers.