While JO has letters of intent from publishers that cover 506 newspapers, magazine and “leading global news sites,” as we reported last week, none of those publishers have committed yet to being part of the launch and none were identified by name. (We reported our corporate parent Guardian News & Media as a likely signer and Nieman Journalism Lab confirmed the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel is one.) And, despite the various reports using that figure as the number of pubs that have signed on, that’s not the case.  Even if every publisher that signed a letter of intent stayed on for the launch (don’t lay odds on that given the nature of the various beasts), any initial efforts are likely to be limited to one or two publications in a chain and as trials.

An organization like IWPR could benefit if JO’s promised tools expand its online fundraising capability but the new company will need to achieve critical mass to make the global access concept really pay off.