The Lawrence Journal-World only joined the Net-J project in 2011 and it immediately recruited four partners into what it called the Northeast Kansas News Network.
The effort was notable in that it was the only Net-J project that attempted to actually sell partner content – some for as little as $5 a story. The vehicle for this was StoryMarket.com, a content network launched in February 2011 by The World Co., the LJ-World’s publisher. StoryMarket was designed to help syndicators, publishers, freelancers and bloggers buy, sell or share content.
Plans called for the news organization to create a website to cover Manhattan, Kansas, as the fifth partner. But the entire Net-J effort fizzled out amid staff departures and the failure of StoryMarket to get traction.
