‘Monetizing the hate:’ could this really work?

Heather Armstrong, known to her 1.2 million followers on Twitter as Dooce, has an idea on how to turn hate mail into cash:

“Internet, let me introduce you to Monetizing The Hate. Here I will be posting all the hate mail I get in my inbox and all the hateful anonymous and not-so-anonymous comments left on this website.”

I first spotted this story on Journalism.co.uk, which highlighted the experiment but didn’t ask the obvious question: could this work for news organizations? If there are two things most news organizations have in abundance it’s outspoken people who think the editors are too liberal or conservative (or just plain idiots) and a need to make money online.

Controversial topics in the news like Acorn, the health care debate and the march on Washington have ramped up the amount of hate mail coming to news organizations recently. I talked with one newspaper editor last week who reported receiving death threats (over the paper’s lack of perceived coverage of Acorn) serious enough to warrant a phone call to local police.

dooceDooce, the popular blog written by Armostrong, seems an unlikely place for such vitriol. But after reading Armstrong’s post about “Monetising The Hate,” it reminded me that if you’re popular enough, you’ll be a target for someone. In true Dooce style, Armstrong is excited about the possibility of her new venture:

And let me tell you, it is a hoot! And the money? OH THE MONEY! I am going to roll around naked in all that money!

We probably won’t to see any ad directors at local newspapers pitching the idea this way. But if Dooce can make it work, news organizations would be wise to try to take all that hate they currently allow to in the comments of their stories and turn it into cash. What have they got to lose?

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