Lessons to be learned from paywalls
Jinfo Blog

By Penny Crossland

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Online newspaper paywalls are making the headlines again. It was a hotly debated subject at the paidContent conference at the beginning of the month, where advocates from both sides of the wall presented their arguments. To me, Atlantic Media’s Justin Smith made sense when he warned that introducing a paywall was not the panacea so many newspaper publishers hope for. As long argued by LiveWire contributors, Smith admitted that only providers of niche content can successfully charge for online content. Web users will not pay for general news.

However, this does not stop publishers from trying. As we wait for The New York Times to launch its version of an online payment system  - imminent by all accounts, there are rumours on this side of the pond that The Daily Telegraph is considering charging for its content.  Marketing Week broke the news at the end of February that the paper had been doing the rounds of various digital agencies with a view to revamping the website and introducing a hybrid payment model a la the Financial Times. The rumours were denied by Telegraph management at the time: “Absolutely no decisions have been made on the introduction of a paid-content model. Like all publishers, TMG continually evaluates the developments in the digital sector”. So, that’s probably a yes, then.

In the UK, regional newspapers too are beginning to switch to a paid-for business model. The best-selling Midlands newspaper Express & Star recently announced its introduction of a bundled print and web subscription. While the main headlines will remain free to online readers, more in-depth content will go behind a paywall. This is seen as a significant move, since over here it has been the national rather than the regional newspaper publishers which have been keenest on moving towards paid-for websites.

Midlands News Association, which owns the Express & Star, may have heard about the successful introduction of a metered paywall by the Augusta Chronicle in Georgia. Its solution was a gradual roll-out of the paid-for model. Rather than putting all content behind a paywall like the Times has done over here, the Augusta Chronicle allowed its readers to view 100 articles a month before having to pay. Traffic to the site increased by 5% and has allowed the publishers to reduce the number of free articles to 25 per month.

As a blogger was quoted in the editor's weblog article: “The key is…keeping your paywall open to social media and not taking the impenetrable and anti-social media approach of The Times."

There is a lesson there for The New York Times: don’t alienate your customers and they will stay with you.

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