It’s no secret that the newspaper industry has been suffering. Now that everyone has access to the Web where they can get the latest news with a click of a computer mouse or a fingertip touch on a smartphone, long ago are the days of waiting for your paper to find out what’s going on in the world.
But the newspapers are smartening up. Or are they?
Just as you have to pay your 50 cents per copy or a fixed rate for a subscription to your physical paper, some popular newspapers are charging, or will soon start charging, readers to pay to read the news… off their Web site. The latest medium to do this is the New York Times. Although the Times Co. has released few details of how they plan to charge readers, we do know that starting in 2011, the newspaper will offer a “metered plan” where viewers can look at a certain number of articles free before having to pay to continue to read more. The Wall Street Journal and The Financial Times already have this practice in place.
It’s easy to draw the conclusion that media companies are doing this because advertising spending is not where it used to be. With production costs on the rise, and in order to keep some of these outlets afloat, now the cost burden needs to be shifted to the consumer. But will readership suffer as a result? Or will readers go to one of the thousands of competitors that is not charging a fee to view content? Then would the pay-to-read plan ultimately backfire?
Are you willing to pay for YOUR news?
