The ChicagoSun-Times, as part of a partnership with San Francisco startup Bitwall, is set to test a “social paywall” next month.
The will begin Feb. 1 and Sun-Times readers will be prompted to donate Bitcoins to or Tweet about the Taproot Foundation, a nonprofit that helps business professionals do pro bono work for other nonprofits, according to TheDomains.com.
Sun Times Editor-in-Chief and Publisher Jim Kirk reportedly said the Sun-Times is the “first major USA newspaper to test a Bitcoin-based paywall.”
Last year, the Sun-Times and its sister papers laid off its entire staff of photographers to focus on multimedia ventures.
"The Chicago Sun-Times continues to evolve with our digitally savvy customers, and as a result, we have had to restructure the way we manage multimedia, including photography, across the network."
