Footnoted.org considers pay wall

Footnoted.org, the business site where business journalist Michelle Leder posts information she finds in company SEC filings, is considering charging its readers for access.

Leder writes, “For the past week, I’ve asked readers to donate money to the site because advertising revenues have fallen sharply over the past few months. So far, only a few people have contributed. In the past, speaking fees and repackaging of footnoted content have also helped to cover the site’s expenses. But those too have fallen sharply. So unless something changes dramatically, I may have few choices but to put all of footnoted content behind a subscription wall.

“And then people who are willing to pay for the time and effort it takes to pore through SEC filings and find things like the Krispy Kreme find or this post on General Electric (GE) back when it was trading in the $20s, will have access to the content. And those that are unwilling to pay will not.

“There’s a lot of smart people who read this site and I’m certainly open to suggestions on solving this in a way that works for everyone.”

Read more here.