Whether a newspaper should or should not have a pay wall on their website is a hotly debated topic in certain circles. One thing that is clear to me is that one size clearly does not fit all; especially in the newspaper business.
For every success you read about, and there are plenty: http://www.poynter.org/latest-news/top-stories/222073/how-two-small-family-owned-newspapers-in-vermont-had-success-with-a-paywall/
You hear about a failure: http://www.cjr.org/the_audit/the_dallas_morning_news_drops.php
What is clear is that newspapers are seeing a short term increase in revenue from the charges generated from the pay wall on websites, and that cannot be discounted. First and foremost, newspapers are a business run for a profit, and I cannot fault anyone who is trying to add to the bottom line of their organization.
The concern of capping the amount of content that is given away is that it does open up an avenue for competition. In small towns, it means someone (often times a laid off newspaper employee) can start up their own community portal providing local content for free. Since this site doesn't have many of the legacy costs of the newspaper, they can survive and maybe even thrive off the advertising revenue generated. In larger communities where local TV stations and radio stations with newsrooms can fill the gap for the audience once they've hit their limit at the local newspaper.
As an avid fan of the Boston Red Sox, I will occasionally find myself at the Boston Globe for a story. In the past, they have offered one day passes to their content, sponsored by a local realtor or another advertiser. I always thought that was a unique way to show value for your content and yet still have it accessible to the audience.
Today, I stumbled across another unique approach for showing value for the content and keeping it available. While doing exhaustive research on a beer concoction called a "Schlabst", the newspaper website herald-review.com only showed me a preview of the story. To read the rest, the reader had to complete a simple survey on an advertiser. In this case, it was for Verizon Wireless.
Newspapers need to examine the positives and negatives about a paywall. No doubt in my mind, it does make sense; especially for those in highly isolated markets or that provide exceptionally unique content. But the higher the risk of competition, the more organizations need to look at alternatives.
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