• by Gavin O'Malley , Staff Writer @mp_gavin, June 17, 2009

Where is the business of paid content going, and, more to the point, what do industry experts think of Steve Brill’s plea earlier this morning for publishers to begin charging for their content?

It’s “certainly admirable, and it will work for a certain part of the industry,” said Krishan Bhatia, SVP Strategy & Development, Comcast Interactive Media. “He’s on to something,” yet, “We really need to figure out how to aggregate packages of content … I think it’s a much broader issue, and it will take many different approaches.”

“He’s trying to create a billing platform where these is none,” said Michael Kelly, Senior Advisor, Veronis Suhler Stevenson, but, “It’s not going to save the business.” The real problem with the newspaper business is that “they still print on newspapers and throw it out of a car.”

Sean Nolan, VP Online Operations and External Online Marketing, Rodale, then noted the real issue â€" the 8,000 pound gorilla in the room: Brill: “How do you get people to start paying for something that’s already free?”

One answer? “Deprivation,” suggested John Squires, EVP, Time, Inc.