New journalism business model? Evernote’s Context feature and the Wall Street Journal.

newspaper shirt
Another paying audience: the shirtless. burningmax/flickr

Revenue-hungry, quarantined and shrinking newspapers may have found another customer.

Evernote.

The remember-everything service has figured out a way to improve the scribblings of its 127-million-strong audience: Context

The Context update for premium customers will automatically make connections between a user’s notes and external information sources that include the Wall Street Journal, Fast Company and PandoDaily.

From Evernote’s trumpets:

Possibly the most powerful new benefit that Context brings is a look at related information from premier news and information sources, including from one of the most trusted media organizations on the planet, The Wall Street Journal.

To maximize the impact, we aren’t just looking at today’s news, we’re going through recent archives to find the best articles for that particular moment. Click, and the article opens in Evernote, then clip it, cite a section, or use Work Chat to share with your team.

I wonder how much one of the country’s most established newspapers charges Evernote for access to its trove of knowledge.

Or maybe it’s enough getting exposure to 127 million task-oriented people hungry for information that makes a difference in their knowledge building.

Either way, the message of the shiny Web medium continues its song:

  • Services that facilitate the creation and management of content are how audiences get built in the Internet era.
  • In this world where everyone is making media, the pros must help people stake their claim, not trap them inside their own territory.
  • So go where your audience is.
  • Be ready when they need you.
  • And if they can’t pay you, maybe the venue can.

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