Post by bob quarteroni on Aug 17, 2013 11:41:01 GMT -5
Newspapers floundering on digital paywalls
San Francisco Chronicle quietly drops effort to monetize access
Published: 12 hours ago
(American Thinker) The newspaper industry is flailing about, desperately trying to replace the revenue which disappeared with the arrival of the internet, giving every appearance of being in its death throes. In the latest example of pre-demise convulsions, the San Francisco Chronicle has quietly dropped its paywall, instituted but four months earlier. Andrew Beaujon of Poynter.org writes:
Following a number of reports speculating about the end of the paper’s subscription plan, the Chronicle’s new publisher and president released a statement that seemed to suggest the company is trying to modify its paywall without giving it up altogether: while all of the paper’s news will be appearing at both the SFGate and SFChronicle sites, the two executives hinted that they will be trying to add enough value to the latter to keep people paying for it. According to the statement:
“SFGate will continue to provide readers with a broad spectrum of content as well as all Chronicle reports and columns. The SFChronicle.com site will continue to provide readers with an online version that replicates a newspaper experience and reflects the changes in the news throughout the day. We will continue to increase the unique assets that distinguish SFChronicle.com, including design features, utility and unique offerings to subscribers.”
Read more at www.wnd.com/2013/08/newspapers-floundering-on-digital-paywalls/#whkk4sTpqd5HmeXg.99