Miami Herald Asks Readers For Donations

The Miami Herald is taking a page out of Wikipedia's playbook.

Starting Tuesday, the McClatchy-owned newspaper is using its website to invite readers to donate to the newspaper.

A link appears on every story that reads, "Support ongoing news coverage" and takes you to a page where readers can donate any amount they'd like.

"If you value The Miami Herald's local news reporting and investigations, but prefer the convenience of the Internet, please consider a voluntary payment for the web news that matters to you," the prompt reads.

The newspaper's parent company, McClatchy, said last week that advertising trends had improved. The company expected ad revenue "to decline in the low- to mid-20 percent range in the fourth quarter compared with a decline of 28.1 percent in the third quarter and 30.2 percent in the second quarter," the AP reported.

Wikipedia — run by the nonprofit Wikimedia Foundation — runs an annual appeal for readers to donate for the free service; last year, the campaign raised $3 million in the span of ten days.