Published March 28, 2011
While it might not be the invention of the printing press, today is a seminal day for journalism. The New York Times unveils a metered online paywall this afternoon.
The proliferation of Internet news and its effect on traditional news outlets is a well-told story: The Web has shifted readers but hasn’t replaced revenue, creating a crisis for the industry.
Stop the presses, the Times' paywall is going into effect. (Blue Mountains Library - Local Studies/Flickr)
Many local newspapers have already erected paywalls. For instance, for this morning’s Hubbub roundup I wanted to link to a Cape Cod Times article on the refuse from a New Hampshire sewage treatment plant washing up on Cape beaches and an article from the Worcester Telegram & Gazette on a local kid making the Kansas City Royals. Both articles are behind metered paywalls and I thought the paywall might aggravate Hubbub readers, so I left them out. Should I have included them? It’s a wholly new journalism question. Readers around the region will continue to ask similar pay-for-news questions when the Globe changes its online structure this fall.
Of course, there’s some irony here: WBUR is fundraising this week in order to pay for the journalism we produce here — both on the radio and online. Many people already feel compelled to pay for public media. Many people pay to subscribe to the Times’ print edition. Is there a pay-for-news line for you?
Will you pay for news that was once free? Will you pay for content from arguably the world’s most important paper, but not from anywhere else? Will you pay for the BostonGlobe.com? Do you pay for CapeCodTimes.com or Telegram.com?
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