Fox News has bought a minority stake in a new online video news site targeting colleges and universities, reports Forbes.
Palestra.net will feature content produced by students, with packages appearing both on the site and occasionally on the Fox News Channel.
The young Sean Hannity’s and Bill O’Reilly’s in training will be paid, not in beer, but $240 to $300 dollars per week for three news packages.
Fox amped up its Facebook page today as well, in what appears to be a recent campaign by the network to reach out to youth. And reporters may post links to their work on their individual profiles and share them with friends, basically sneaking their way into the online community.
Palestra’s founder says that Fox will not be preselecting the stories, but that they may be further pitched to Fox by Palestra.
The timing is perfect, as far as driving interest in and viewers to Fox's political coverage. Forbes reports that more than 10 pieces of student-reported news should be running on the network as school starts and the 2008 election heads into the final stretch.
And according to their site, they will also be out with the masses at the conventions.
Fox joins newcomers Disney and NBC in providing news outlets to the campus crowd, an area currently dominated by Viacom and MTVU.
Rupert Murdoch: Big Man On Campus [Forbes]
Photo: Flickr/bradjward
