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There used to be something here that couldn't be migrated - please contact us at info@journalism.co.uk if you'd like to see this updated! Times+, a private membership scheme , has been launched today by the Times and the Sunday Times.

Times+ will 'deepen the titles' relationship with their readers, reward loyalty and generate new direct revenue streams', parent company News International said in a release.

Membership is available at £50 a year or free to subscribers to the Times and Sunday Times. It includes offers for events, gifts and rewards relating to the arts and travel.

The new scheme is an extension of Culture+ , which currently has more than 90,000 members, News International said.

More topic areas are planned for the next two months in addition to the travel and culture 'packs'. New packs will be available for an additional £50.

Members are also offered the chance to meet journalists, including the editors, columnists and critics, from both the Times and the Sunday Times, at 'bespoke' events.

"The success of Culture+ has shown us that readers trust us to deliver what they want. Our greatest asset is our content," said John Witherow, editor of the Sunday Times, in the release.

"Times+ enables us to offer readers the chance to get even more out of the sections of the paper that they most value."

Times+ is a move away from the 'traditional model of volume', said Katie Vanneck-Smith, managing director of customer direct at News International. Instead the company is 'developing more direct relationships with customers based on their interests and passions', she added.

Other news organisations have toyed with similar ideas: speaking in London in July this year, Guardian News & Media editor-in-chief Alan Rusbridger talked about monetising the Guardian's readers via exclusive events.

"I think in the same way that we have an events business on the back of the paper, where we will discuss education and have an annual public services conference, where people pay to come along to that, we can copy that kind of thing," Rusbridger told Journalism.co.uk.

Since then, plans for a Guardian club providing 'extra benefits in return for an annual or monthly fee' have been made public.

In July, the Washington Post's event scheme came under fire after an attempt to sell lobbyists access to political journalists and government officials. The event in question was cancelled.

Charles Pelton, general manager of events and conferences for the Washington Post has since stepped down, although he did not mention the July controversy in his resignation letter.

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Written by
Judith Townend

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