Richard Gringas calls it an "experiment."

The Monday after Thanksgiving, Salon.com started selling cube-shaped martini shakers, shower-rings that look like meringues, and coffee mugs designed like paper cups (for that eco-conscious soul with a sense of humor).

Though not a "massive success," that experiment made money for the 15-year-old news and feature site, said Gringas, CEO of Salon Media Group Inc.

And finding new ways to make money is much on the minds of news media executives as advertising sales plummet. News organizations are turning to wine and travel clubs and hiking subscription rates to make money.

Some upstart local news outlets are setting themselves up as nonprofits and turning to foundations and individual donors, rather than advertising, for support.

In the long run, though, there may be no escaping advertising's grip on media.

"There's a lot of experimentation going on now and shifts in strategy to drive new revenue," said Randy Bennett, senior vice president of business development for the Newspaper Association of America.

After debuting what it describes as a successful launch of a wine club in 2008, the Wall Street Journal entered the travel market in January. If you liked that Journal article on Vietnam, perhaps you'll also like the Journal's 12-day culinary tour inspired by the paper's story, said Imtiaz Patel, vice president of group sales and strategy. The trip starts at $4,299.

The Journal counts 100,000 members in its wine club, about twice as many as it did a year ago. Members pay about $70 to get 12 wines recommended by the Journal. Shoppers can also buy individual wines.

"It's a great revenue stream," Patel said. He declined to say how much revenue wine and travel have generated for the paper.

Newspaper executives say they are careful about preventing any conflicts of interests that would blur the line between reporting on wine and selling it.

"We're diligent about this," Patel said. "Our reporters will never opine on anything we sell."

The New York Times launched a wine club in August and will continue to "explore new revenue ideas," spokeswoman Diane McNulty said. She declined to say what ideas or how many wine club members it has.

So far, the money generated from shopping and wine is small for news outlets.

The percentage of Salon's annual $7.5 million in revenue the shop generates is in the "low single digits," Gringas said.