Photo: Patrick McMullan

Yesterday, Court TV founder and Clear Registered Traveler creator Steve Brill announced that he'd be starting a software company aimed at easing the process of newspapers selling and distributing content online. Brill, who's known for his ability to launch new products, recently announced that he's leaving Clear to "focus on the business problems facing quality journalism," and this service, called Journalism Online, appears to be his solution. His partners on the venture are former WSJ publisher Gordon Crovitz and media private-equity mogul Leo Hindery Jr. Gawker and other media skeptics are already voicing doubts that this will catch on, as megabrands Amazon and PayPal already offer similar services. But we ran into Brill at Tina Brown's house last night during a party for Suzy Welch's book 10-10-10, and he was carrying copies of the Journalism Online press release in his back pocket as he hobnobbed with media heavyweights like Rupert Murdoch, Barry Diller, Phil Griffin, Tom Brokaw, and Harry Evans. We're certainly not counting him out yet.

Media Executives Plan Online Service to Charge for Content [NYT]