eBay Founder Starts Subscriber-based Online News Service in Hawaii -- Will it Work?

eBay founder Pierre Omidyar is starting an online news service in Hawaii.  Subscribers will pay $19.99 a month to gain access to Civilbeat.com which launched on Wednesday.  At a time when traditional and new media organizations are struggling to find a business model for online news, will Omidyar's model work? What do you think?