A New Future of
Journalism
By: Matt Couto, Yuko Inoue, Sarah Spitz,
Megan Stacey and Dan Taekema
DEVELOPMENT
Source
Source
HOW DID WE GET HERE?
 Street corner and messenger model
 Advent of the Internet
 Acceptance of a “digital age”
 Movement of content to online spheres
 Revenue via digital advertising
 Fall of online ads
 Alternate revenue streams
 Reader subscription
PAYWALL MODELS IN
THE INDUSTRY
HARD
PAYWALL
MODEL
METEREDPAYWALL
MODEL
PREMIUM
CONTENT
MODEL
A BRIEF RUNDOWN...
HARD
METERED
• PAY FOR
ACCESS TO
ANY AND
ALL
CONTENT
• PAY AFTER
EXCEEDING
‘FREE
SAMPLE’
LIMIT
PREMIUM
CONTENT
• PAY TO
ACCESS
CERTAIN
CONTENT
HARD-PAYWALL MODEL
PROS
CONS
LOYAL
READERS WILL
PAY TO READ
CONTENT
LESS PEOPLE
ARE WILLING
TO PAY RIGHT
AWAY
NO WAY TO
‘HOOK’
READERS WITH
INCENTIVE
HARD-PAYWALL MODEL
EXAMPLE: THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
Case Study:
 One of the first news organization to set up a paywall.
 Hard style paywall. Readers pay to access all content.
 Daily access costs £1 (about $1.66 CDN)
 Paywall has been considered a failure by many.
 Described as “too harsh” and “alienating to readers”
-Krashinsky, Susan. "Website pay wall drops Times of London
readership." The Globeand Mail.
http://www.bandbassociation.org/
Case Study:
Results:
• Lost over 4 million online readers
• Page views dropped by 90-per-cent
-Erik Schonfeld, "The Times UK Lost 4 Million Readers to
its Paywall Experiment.” TechCrunch.com
• Statistics from 2013 show approximately 2,100
subscribers are joining per month
- Patrick Smith, "Three years on: Has the Times digital
subscription project worked?.” The Media
Briefing.
http://www.bandbassociation.org/
Case Study:
Reasons for failure:
• Too harsh of a paywall, people can find same
stories elsewhere online for free
• Loss of readers kills advertising potential which
leads to further losses in subscription revenue.
-Phillip Crawley, September 26, 2013, phone.
http://www.bandbassociation.org/
METERED-PAYWALL
MODEL
PROS
CONS
AMPLE
OPPORTUNITY TO
GRAB READERS
ATTENTION
SOME READERS
SATISFIED WITH
10 FREE
ARTICLES/MONTH
LITTLE LOSS IN
EYE TRAFFIC
HARD TO FIND
THE RIGHT
NUMBER OF FREE
ARTICLES
METERED-PAYWALL
MODEL
EXAMPLES: NEW YORK TIMES, NATIONAL POST,
GLOBE AND MAIL, OTTAWA CITIZEN
CASE STUDY:
 Established a metered paywall in March 2011
 Options range from $3.75 per week to $8.75 per week
depending on what you want access to
 10 complimentary articles per month
 Considered by many to be the most successful paywall
to date
-Sulzberger, Arthur. "A Letter to Our Readers About Digital
Subscriptions." The New York Times.
http://goo.gl/wUv5Ii
CASE STUDY:
Results:
 As of August 2013 The New York Times has
699,000 online subscribers
 Approximately 100, 000 subscribers are joining
each year
 The paywall brings in $150 million each year
-Ryan Chittum, "The NYT's $150 million-a-year
paywall." Columbia Journalism Review.
http://goo.gl/wUv5Ii
CASE STUDY:
.
Why has the paywall been such a success?
 The New York Times has an international
audience
 It’s “elite journalism” high quality journalism
that many readers consider worth paying for
–Dinah Metah, "Newspaper Paywalls Canada: If you Build it Will
They Pay?.” Huffington Post.
http://goo.gl/wUv5Ii
CASE STUDY:
 Toronto based news corporation that owns
numerous papers including the National Post,
Montreal Gazette and the Ottawa Citizen.
 Instituted a metered paywall in 2012
 15 free articles per month
 Initial online access costs 99 cents per month
 Rises to $9.95 per month (or $99.50 per year)
-Tencer, Daniel. "Postmedia Paywall: National Post, Ottawa Citizen,
Vancouver Province and Vancouver Sun Enact
'Metered' Paywall
System." Huffington Post.
-
http://goo.gl/tJVWAv
CASE STUDY:
Has the paywall been a success?
 It’s too early to tell.
 Unlike the New York Times the Citizen won’t draw and
international audience, and it doesn’t have the
resources to produce ‘elite’ journalism like the New
York Times.
 However, the Citizen can draw on a large local
audience which may make the paywall a success.
http://goo.gl/tJVWAv
 Modeled off of New York Times system
 Metered paywall at $20/month with 10 free articles
 Full-time print subscribers get free online access, which
has increased print subscriptions
 Successfully hooks consumers with 99-cent, monthlong trial
 Globe released a performance report in February 2013 –
four months after the paywall launch
 80 000 online subscribers (closer to 100 000 today)
 No negative impact on advertising market at all, according
to VP Andrew Saunders
 Daily unique visits remained at 4 million a month because
consumers have 10 free articles
 Despite Saunder’s claims, a June 2013 report showed a
40% decrease in online readership
 Globe publisher Phillip Crawley said that where paywalls
haven’t worked, it’s because “the content is just not good
enough”
 Globe is “worthy of the charge” as it offers unique content,
specifically: foreign bureau coverage and insider columns
on business and politics
 People need to feel the content can’t be found elsewhere,
or they will consume the free version
 Globe’s news quality comes from its attempt to target a
specific audience
 Globe attempting to gain extra revenue by diversifying
its products
 Globe2Go
 Kindle/Ebook Paper
 Ebooks/Article Collections
 Feeds/Newsletters
 Reprints
 Art Store
“Paywall partnership” with the New York Times?
 Globe offering a deal along the lines of a cross-media
“package”
 Option to subscribe to the New York Times is listed on
the Globe products page
 Subscribers of the Globe get a discount on a
subscription with the New York Times
PREMIUM CONTENT
MODEL
PROS
CONS
READERS CAN STILL
ACCESS BREAKING
NEWS CONTENT
PEOPLE SATISFIED
WITH FREE
CONTENT AND
DON’T WANT
PREMIUM
PEOPLE MOST
LIKELY TO PAY FOR
NEWS THE SAME AS
THOSE MOST LIKELY
TO READ PREMIUM
CONTENT
CONTENT MUST BE
OF EXCELLENT
QUALITY IF PEOPLE
ARE EXPECTED TO
PAY FOR IT
PREMIUM-CONTENT MODEL
EXAMPLE: THE BOSTON GLOBE
CASE STUDY:
 Header ↑ shows keenness in audience engagement
ACCESSIBLE READING
 IN GENERAL
 Content without the
icon
 e.g. Stock portfolio, non-specialized pieces
ACCESSIBLE READING
CONT’D
 IN SPECIFIC CASES
 Disasters
 Elections
 Competitive advantage
 e.g. NYT shut down
THE NYT SHUT DOWN
WHY PAY?
(via the Guardian)
 The article mentioned WSJ to make the
 following arguments
 Size matters
 Specialized content helps
SPECIALIZED
CONTENT…WHO’S THE
AUDIENCE?
 “Meet the Reader” (under audience)
http://www.wsjmediakit.com/newspaper
 The Global Edition (U.S., Asia and Europe)
 80% Male
 Avg. age 51
 Earn avg. $245,766/yr
WSJ DIGS
(↓Global ed. stats for advertisers)
Subscription # History
 One of the first U.S. papers to install a paywall - 1997
(a year after the 1st - Slate)
 WSJ.com reaches 200,000 online readers
 1998
 WSJ.com reaches a million online readers
 2007
Back in 1997...(via Wayback Machine)
When #s compared...
SYSTEM CHALLENGES
 Creating connection with readers
 Diversifying content
 Convincing audience of content value
 Economic climate – rising costs, few alternatives
Source
OUR MODEL: The Basics
 Digital subscription divided by sections






News $3
City $3
Arts $2
Business $2
Comment $2
Life, Auto, Travel, Technology etc. $2
 Each section has its own cost, which would be significantly
lower than paying for the whole paper
 5+ sections (entire paper) can be purchased for $10
 Gives more “bang for your buck”
 Receive only the content you deem valuable
OUR MODEL: The Specifics
 Metered paywall – receive standard 10 articles per
month before subscription
 Netflix model
 Trial month
 Hassle free monthly payment and renewal
 Capitalize on local audience
 City section
 Free access to obituaries
 Discounted rate for students
WHERE DO WE GO FROM
HERE?
 What options are available for the news industry to stay
viable and maintain its standards at the same time?
 What determines which sections you read? What makes you
click a link?
 What would entice you to purchase a digital subscription?
 How do you define quality news content for a section of a
local paper?
 What is the most you would pay for a digital subscription?
Phillip’s Audio, just so we don’t lose it