Who will pay for news?

For years we have passed out information online for free. Now with the New York Times introducing their paywall system, do you guys think it'll be a trickle down effect to smaller papers. And if so, will anyone pay?

 

Haven't we seen this movie before. Put up a paywall, send your readers scattering for another site that posts the same stories for free. Unless the NY Times and every other media outlet can find a way to keep their content exclusive and on the Internet at the same time, no one's going to pay for online stories. People are already accustomed to getting it for free.

 

People will pay for news if they can't get it for free, just like any other product. Since it is technologically impossible as yet to prevent people from accessing newspaper Web sites for free (the Times paywall is simple to breach), the only way to make your information worth paying for is to create information people can't get anywhere else on a consistent basis. In other words, the Times would've been better served taking the money they spent installing paywall technology and hiring reporters and editors.

 

People who are too stupid to figure out ways around the paywall.

 

Do you think it'll be a trickle down effect to smaller publications?

 

NYTClean gets around the paywall.

http://euri.ca/2011/03/21/get-around-new-york-times-20-article-limit/

 

The iPad and mobile apps are where it's at. I wouldn't take a paid subscription to the same Times website I could get for free yesterday. However, if they deliver an iPad app that is more streamlined to the content I want and just overall more engaging, I would buy that. The Times' iPad app currently leaves much to be desired. Murdoch's The Daily has a spectacularly designed app but doesn't have the content yet. Once someone merges the two, I'm buying. (I'm guessing I will be sending Murdoch my money long before the Times gets its shit together.)

I would do the same for my local paper if it comes up with a readable mobile app.

 

Yep, and I think it already has. Two Three dailies in my area are already behind pay walls and it is just a matter of time before more join in.

 

The daily in my area has a paywall, but it's not hard to get around. The people who probably would pay are likely the ones who spend the most time evading paywalls.

 

http://www.sportsjournalists.com/forum/threads/82737/

 

Cthuhlu forbid someone take a slightly different angle on another thread. The internet is going to run out of space to hold all these double posts soon.

 

1) If you're looking for national news, then I don't the Times' paywall is going to have much of an effect. As others have pointed out, there are too many free competitors, whether it be the Washington Post or the Huffington Post or the slew of places like CNN and Fox that just offer expanded versions of TV copy.

2) If you're a smaller daily or weekly and have a niche, and more importantly no competition, I think it could work. One paper I used to work for had a pretty decent online paywall, just because there was no one else providing info on the area online.