A little over a year ago, Salon launched Open Salon, a standalone site and blogging platform separate from Salon proper, that allowed folks to publish their writings. Over 35,000 people have since contributed to the site—some only occasionally; some frequently. Other than cross-links, the content on the two sites was kept separate.

Now Salon says it's going to start folding some of those writings into Salon proper. The new program will only apply to a handful of Open Salon writers, with editors handpicking content they think is "appropriate to the Salon brand," Salon Media Group CEO Richard Gingras told BayNewser.

The pieces will appear in Salon proper, and writers' bylines will be appended with an identifier, possibly something like "Salon Media Network," Gingras said. Unlike with Open Salon, the pieces used on Salon proper will go through Salon's editing process. Contributors will not be paid for articles placed on Salon proper but instead will share ad revenue with Salon, just as they do with Open Salon, Gingras said. That might change down the road, "depending on our ability to monetize" the content, Gingras said.

Gingras said the new program will begin in the coming weeks. It's part of a wider initiative at the company to expand its overall strategy and find new ways to cost-effectively expand its coverage and develop new voices.

"Open Salon generates about 400 articles a day," Gingras said. "Easily five percent of that would be well worthy of the Salon brand. We want to provide that opportunity to folks, for their benefit and ours."