Ongo Aimed at Old-School Users Who Have Migrated Online

Posted Monday, May 23, 2011 12:00 am

By: Rick Edmonds | Poynter.org

When Ongo launched four months ago, reviews from the tech press were frosty. Why would anyone pay $6.99 a month for a bunch of stories they could get elsewhere for free, the critics asked.

Now, having sampled Ongo and talked to CEO Alex Kazim, I get the potential appeal - though Ongo is clearly a product for old-school news consumers who have migrated online rather than for digital natives.

The site is backed by $12 million in startup capital from The New York Times, The Washington Post and Gannett. It also displays material from the Associated Press, Reuters, the Financial Times and other papers (most of those for an added fee).

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Ongo Aimed at Old-School Users Who Have Migrated Online

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