Salt Lake Trib Bucks Parent Co.; Remains 'Freebie' to Online Readers

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Digital First Media-owned Salt Lake Tribune, for now, will not follow the path of the other dailies in the media conglomerate's holding by erecting a paywall for readers of its online edition, Poynter.org reported.

The Tribune's managing editor told Poynter that competition in the market from media outlets that offer free online access to news figured in the paper's decision to hold off on establishing a paywall. The Deseret News, which also covers Salt Lake City, does not have a paywall.

Richmond Daily Surrenders to Paywall; 'All Access' Comes to Times-Dispatch Tuesday

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Online readers of the Richmond Times-Dispatch beginning tomorrow will have limited free viewing as the BH Media Group-owned daily launches All Access, Poynter.org reports.

As with many paywalls, online Times-Dispatch readers will be asked to subscribe once they exceed 20 free articles over a 30-day period, though obits, wire stories, videos, section lead pages and classified ads will not be counted against the 20 freebies, according to Poynter.org.

Publisher Tom Silvestri laid the groundwork for a price hike in 2014. Warren Buffett's BH Media Group acquired the Times-Dispatch from Media General last year (see "TUOL" post 5/17/12), and the billionaire is a big booster of paywalls (not giving stuff away is how he became a billionaire, after all).

Philadelphia Freedom: Dailies Seek Independent Paywalled Websites

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The Web site www.philly.com, which for years boasted the online shared presence of The Philadelphia Inquirer and The Philadelphia Daily News, will remain live, even as the two papers plan in 2013 to launch separate paywalled Websites, according to a post by www.Netnewscheck.com.

Interstate General Media this year assumed ownership of the two financially troubled dailies, which have had a common owner for more than half a century. Details about the forthcoming News and Inquirer paywalls and subscription rates have yet to be released.

WaPo Hints at Paywall

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Not only will The Washington Post roll out former Boston Globe Editor Marty Baron as its new Editor in January (see "TUOL" post 11/14/12), but also, 2013 appears to be when the WaPo finally will overcome its reluctance and join its digital newspaper brethren by erecting a paywall.

Poynter.org picked up on the story, originally reported by The Wall St. Journal, that the Post plans to limit digital readers' unpaid access to its homepage and section fronts, though print subscribers will continue to have unlimited access to the Post's online edition. Paywalls impact about one-third of daily online newspaper readers, the Poynter post noted, and WaPo would be joining a roster of more than 300 dailies nationwide that have erected paywalls, including The New York Times, Wall St. Journal, and Baron's Boston Globe, which has attracted a disappointing 25,000 subscribers to its year-old premium digital service.

The Post has sustained circulation losses at a higher rate than the newspaper industry ovrall, according to the Poynter post.

Cincinnati Enquirer: More Portable, More 'Wallable"

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)Gannett Co.-owned Cincinnati Enquirer, which has endured newsroom cuts and shrinking ad revenues and circulation in recent years (see "TUOL" posts 2/18/11, 7/13/09), this fall will switch to a smaller format and erect a paywall to charge for online content, the business journal Cincinnati Morning Call reports.

Enquirer Editor Carolyn Washburn claims the changeover to a 10-by-14-inch format like the Columbus Dispatch, and imposing an as-yet-to-be-determined fee structure for its online edition will enable the daily to stave off financial losses and to retain its 150-plus journalists.

Apparently, Cincinnati's first-place baseball team isn't the only business in the city that sees "Reds."

Paywall Construction on the Rise

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)Newspaper digital subscription programs continue to grow, as roughly 186 newspapers across the nation have erected paywalls, according to the Web site Newsandtech.com

Gannett Co.'s U.S. Community Publishing division last week unveiled digital subscriber plans for The Des Moines Register, The Tennessean and The Courier-Journal, raising to 28, the number of its newspapers requiring online visitors to pay for access to content. (See "TUOL" post 2/23/12.)

A dozen major newspaper publishers have erected paywalls for digital versions of their publications, according to Poynter.org.  Holdouts still remain, however, including Hearst Newspapers, LLC, which doesn't charge for online viewing.

Chi-Town Business Weekly Erects a Paywall

Crain Communications building  (Photo credit: Wikipedia)Beginning June 14, weekly business newspaper Crain's Chicago Business will go the metered paywall route on its ChicagoBusiness.com Web site, the journal announced today.

Online visitors can view 12 articles a month for free, after which they will be asked to dole out $59 for an annual subscription that will  also offer access to videos, blogs and 15 years worth of archived editions. Subscribers to both the Web site and print edition will pay $99 annually, though for a limited period, print subscribers can get free digital access.

Lee Not Free: Paywall-mania on the Horizon

Dibrary: Digital Newspapers (Photo credit: Mosman Library)

Buoyed by successful returns on paywalls erected for its Montana and Wyoming online newspapers (see "TUOL" post 8/2/11), Davenport, Iowa-based Lee Enterprises, Inc. plans to charge subscribers for digital content at most of its holdings by the end of 2012, Thomson Reuters reports.

Lee Chair/CEO Mary Junck says the conglomerate plans to step up its metered payment model paywalls over the next three months. Lee owns 48 newspapers, co-owns four others, and counts another 300 specialty publications among its holdings. It boasts roughly 1.3 million subscribers among 23 states, according to the Thomson Reuters article.

Pacific Paywall: LA Times Online Adds Subscription Fee in March

Image via WikipediaBeginning March 5, visitors to the Los Angeles Times online edition can only read 15 free articles a month before having to pony up for a subscription.

After a special introductory four-week subscription rate of 99 cents, online readers will be asked to pay $1.99 a week to read the Times' daily and Sunday edition, the paper announced last Friday. Subscribers to the print version of the daily can access the online edition free of charge. Digital-only viewing cost $3.99 a week.

Besides erecting a paywall, the Times print version is consolidating its Food, Home and Health sections into a Saturday "Lifestyle" section.

Publisher Projects Paywall Proliferation

Image via Wikipedia"Good fences make good neighbors," poet  Robert Frost wrote in Mending Wall (1914), but McLean, Virginia-based media conglomerate Gannett Co. believes the 80 paywalls it plans to erect by the end of 2012 for the online editions of the 80 community newspapers it owns will make annual subscription revenues climb 25 percent.

Forbes Magazine reported yesterday that Gannett's Robert Dickey, president of community publishing, said a metered payment system will be in place for Gannett newspapers that likely will offer from five to 15 free articles monthly before Website visitors have to pay for content. Presently, six Gannett dailies have digital paywalls in place (see "TUOL" post 7/1/10).

The Forbes article noted that Gannett's leaky flagship, USA Today, will not follow the paywall route of its sister publications for now, as the nationwide paper is in the throes of upgrading and making over its Website.

Journal Sentinel Online Metered Paywall: The Tier that Made Milwaukee Pay Us?

Image via WikipediaBeginning January 4, The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (JSOnline.com) will introduce a paywall requiring online readers to pony up once they exceed their 20-free-article limit, the paper announced today.

Digital-only access subscribers will pay $2.35 a week in monthly, semi-annual or annual installments. Readers who subscribe to the print edition will have free access to the electronic version. Subscribers to the Sunday-only print edition can pocket an extra nickel by paying $2.30 a week while enjoying full access to the digital version.

The daily is calling its digital version  JS Everywhere, which should help those who sometimes confuse journalism with creative writing. Sports results, section indices, classified ads, home page, videos and the TapMilwaukee channel offerings on JSOnline.com will remain free to all online visitors, the paper announced.

Lee Online Dailies in Montana & Wyoming Erect Paywalls

Image via WikipediaDavenport, Iowa-based media conglomerate Lee Enterprises has erected paywalls for six online dailies among its holdings in Montana and Wyoming, PaidContent.org reports.

Lee, which owns roughly 50 daily newspapers nationwide, has established metered payment models for online versions of The Billings Gazette, Helena Independent Record, The Missoulian, The Ravalli Republic, The Casper Star Tribune and The Montana Standard, the PaidContent article said.  The number of free views offered before visitors are asked to purchase a digital subscription and the always-free online sections varies depending on the publication.

The Billings (Mont.) Gazette, which boasts roughly 38,400 print subscribers, allows 20 articles to be viewed a month digitally before inviting print edition subscribers to pay $1.95 a month or $19.50 annually and non-subscribers $6.95 a month or $69.50 a year. In contrast, the 13,000 print circulation Helena Independent Record charges kick-in after 15 online articles and impose a subscription rate of $1.99 a month/$19.99 yearly for print subscribers and $4.99 a month/$49.99 annually for nonsubscribers.

A discouraging word may seldom be heard on the range in Montana, but if it's going to be read online, residents are going to have to pay to see it.

McClatchy's Metered Modesto

Image via WikipediaThe Modesto (Calif.) Bee last week became the first newspaper of  The McClatchy Company media conglomerate to erect a paywall for its online edition, according to News & Tech.com.

Bee Publisher Eric Johnston said online visitors may access 20 articles gratis before being asked to cough up $5 a month or $50 annually for continued access. Subscribers to the print edition have unlimited free access to the daily's digital version.

Montreal Gazette Erects Paywall for Online Edition

Image via WikipediaThe Montreal Gazette, which claims its online edition attracts a million unique North American visitors monthly, has announced that it is implementing a  metered payment system (or for those, like the "TUOL" staff who mastered high school French--paiement mesuree) similar to The New York Times.

Gazette online visitors will get 20 free views of premium content monthly before the paywall kicks in.  Non-subscribers to the print version of the paper will be asked to fork over $69.95 a year or $6.95 a month. Those who receive the paper edition receive free access after entering identifying information.  Hockeyinsideout.com and westislandgazette.com will not be subject to metering, because the Montreal Gazette knows better than to try to get in the way of online Canadian hockey fans looking for puck news gratis.

Montrealgazette.com boasts that it received 11 million page views last month. Whether online visitors are willing to part with their hard-earned Canadian Dollars remains to be seen.

N.Y. Newsday Management Bonuses & Raises Draw Union's Ire

Image via WikipediaLess than a year after Local 406, the union that represents editorial staffers at Long Island's Newsday, accepted a three-year wage-freeze and pay cuts of 5 to 10 percent, management at the daily are the beneficiaries of "generous wage increases and bonuses," according to Union President Michael LaSpina.

As reported by Poynter.org's  Romanesko media gossip blog, LaSpina fired off a letter to Newsday mucky-mucks expressing his dissatisfaction concerning the compensation boost for management and non-union employees. "TUOL"'s non-union staff wonders why Newsday management would be rewarded for its bold leadership that included the decision to erect a paywall for its online edition that initially yield a whopping 35 subscribers (see "TUOL" post 1/28/10).

Canadians Turn A Cold Shoulder to Newspaper Paywalls

Image via WikipediaWith The New York Times and the Tulsa World among the most recent U.S. newspapers to begin charging visitors to view their online content, a survey by the University of British Columbia ("UBC") reveals that Canadians have little appetite for paywalls.

Roughly 1,700 Canadian adults were polled online, according to UBC Graduate School of Journalism emerita Prof. Donna Logan, lead author of  the study entitled Canadian Consumers Unwilling to Pay for News Online (catchy name, eh?). A whopping 81 percent of those surveyed said they would not pay to read news online, with 90 percent claiming they would seek free alternatives if their preferred online news site implemented a paywall. Factors, such as age, education level, and rural/urban residents, had little impact on the poll results.

Only 30 percent of those surveyed said they would consider paying for online content if no free alternative news sites were available.  Among those willing to part with their hard-earned Canadian dollars, flat-fee subscriptions were preferred over metered payment and pay-as-you-go models.

Will SF Chronicle Erect Paywall or Golden Gate?

Image via WikipediaThe Hearst Corp-owned San Francisco Chronicle is moving closer to greeting visitors to its online edition with a paywall, according to the Bay Guardian and Medialifemagazine.com.

In contrast to the metered payment model recently introduced by The New York Times, the Chronicle is contemplating a "hard paywall" model that would charge online visitors for every article. Although the Chronicle has declined to confirm plans to charge online users, the Bay Guardian story said digital subscribers might be charged $9.99 a month. If the Hearst property follows the trend of other dailies, print edition subscribers would have free access to the online version.

Although no start-up date was mentioned by the Bay Guardian or Medialifemagazine.com, it is expected the Chronicle may introduce a paywall at the same time it debuts its iPad application, which could be as soon as the end of April.

Okla. Daily Erects Paywall to Draw Subscribers in and Keep Bison Out

Image via WikipediaOklahoma's second-largest circulating newspaper, The Tulsa World, next week will institute a metered payment paywall, the paper reported today.

Those already receiving the print version will have unlimited access to the daily's digital platforms, including tulsaworld.com and the paper's mobile, iPad, iPhone and Blackberry applications. Non-subscribers will be able to browse section index home pages such as sports, business, news and obituaries for free.

However, once non-subscribers have reached 10 pay views in a 30-day period, they will be asked to subscribe, from a variety of options.  For $14.99 a month, viewers can receive a 1-year digital subscription, whereas a 6-month subscription runs $15.99 a month and a 30-day subscription, $16.99 a month.  In contrast, a combined print and digital  7-days-a-week subscription costs $20 a month. Those who decline a digital subscription after reaching their 10 page-view maximum have to wait until the end of a 30-day period before having access to another 10 page views on the Website.

The Tulsa World, based in the nation's 61st largest media market, has been owned by the Lorton family since 1917. Other daily newspapers, such as the Dallas Morning News, have opted for a metered system to restrict the number of free views of locally produced articles before imposing a fee.

Online Visits to Vt. Daily Plummet After Paywall Erected

Image via WikipediaWCAX-TV's Website reports that The Rutland Herald, which plans to debut a revamped Website in the coming weeks, has seen monthly page views drop to 2.4 million from 3.9 million since it erected a paywall last October.

Vermont Community Media (VCM), which owns both the Herald and The Barre-Montpelier Times Argus, charges online subscribers $2.99 a week. VermontToday.com, a free community news site also owned by VCM, will also receive a Website makeover in the months ahead, according to WCAX.

Paying for a Gray Lady

Image via WikipediaBeginning next Monday, The New York Times' paywall will be unveiled.

Those who visit www.NYTimes.com (30 million readers monthly, by the daily's estimate) will be able to view 20 articles free of charge before they have to choose from among three digital options: $15 for full access to four weeks of the Website and a mobile phone app; $20 for access to the Website and an iPad app; or $35 for all-access. Except for e-readers such as Kindle and Nook, Times subscribers who receive home delivery will have free access to all Times' digital plaforms.

Times executives expect 85 percent of their online visitors will not surpass the free 20-article quota, but are banking on not losing readers who can access news for free at CNN, BBC and other Websites. Readers may access the Times via search engines such as Google or from social media including Twitter and Facebook, but there is a five-article-a-day limit, which sounds like a journalism "happy hour."

Ad revenues for the Gray Lady declined 2.1 percent in 2010. "TUOL" has addressed the imminent Times paywall construction in the past (see "TUOL"post 1/21/11), and, although columnist Thomas Friedman is still around to solve the world's problems, this blog wonders how many visitors will pony up for the twenty-first article now that Frank Rich has taken his considerable talents to New York magazine and other standbys such as the Sunday magazine's "On Language" column have gone the way of the dodo and, er, the newspaper.