Can Aussie publishers make paywalls work or are we approaching the ceiling?
This week senior execs from the world’s top news organisations came together at the INMA 2015 World Congress, with the future of paywalls a hot topic of conversation. Nic Christensen looks at what was being said, and asks whether paywalls are really a viable option for Australian publishers in light of today’s circulation figures.
Publishers across the world are at a crossroads. There are two alternatives they face at this point: pull up stumps after investing in expensive paid content strategies deciding they’ve hit a barrier they can’t get over, or hold their nerve and look to break the subscriptions ceiling that confronts many of them?
If there was one moment that stood out at the International News Media Association (INMA) 2015 World Congress this week it was when Australian moderator, and former Sydney Morning Herald editor, Robert Whitehead polled the room full of top media executives, from around the world, on their support for paywalls.
The audience at the INMA World Congress
Opportunity here.
Referrers like Reddit, who offer massive potential traffic, are desperate for quality news sources that aren’t compromised by all the crap that goes on at News and Fairfax.
These audiences are deserving, savvy and love being showered in source material, the more data, picture, links, *proof* of the contention of the article the better.
They also like honesty.
Sponsor some decent journalism that fills these market desires and the goodwill generated might be profitable.
@ Jen,
Or read The Guardian
The fact that the question is still being asked shows what the answer is, viz., no, they can’t make paywalls work, and neither can any other publisher. There’s just too much available at no charge elsewhere.
Not to mention that most paywalls aren’t walls at all, just minor impediments to reaching the story.
And, reading right to the end, I see the return of our old friend “almost inevitable”.
Now, that was inevitable.
I agree with Paridell – there is always a way of finding the story if you are stopped by a paywall – usually within minutes it’s available *somewhere* by googling it.
Whether the industry likes it or not, a whole generation has come to expect free content, which has massive ramifications for the future.
Given that there are only two companies they can make paywalls work.
Just because you can get around them now, doesn’t mean that will continue in the future. There have been free alternatives to newspapers since the 1930s so that argument doesn’t cut it either.
@@”The Australian claims it is more like 50 per cent advertising and 50 per cent coming from consumer facing sources – digital subscriptions, print subs and cover prices.”
Have you seen how many advertisements there are now in The Oz ? If it wasn’t for the Commonwealth government there would be practically none.
The issue isn’t paywalls. It is product. Since advertising flew away, the cost of printing and distribution is borne solely by cover price. Publishers have yet to realise (or simply aren’t up to the challenge) that the core problem is the product. It’s not good enough and, generally, it’s getting worse. This is most obvious with the one title that should survive on paywalls: the AFR. Yet the AFR is now tossed away for free at airports and elsewhere. Fairfax won’t even release it’s digital subs numbers, which tells you all you need to know.
@ Geoff Field
Have a look at the the publishers of yesteryear though Geoff. They were literally rolling in cash.
Do we have to be stinking rich (make billions in profit) to be able to produce a decent news resource?
There will be balanced insightful information for people to consume, it might cost, however it does not need generate extortionate incomes for the publisher. There is no need, in 2015 for ‘media barons’…
“Publishing” in a digital age has to change just like music, film and entertainment. Companies are still clinging to 20th Century business ideologies which no longer work. What we are seeing is a Democratisation of ‘content’ Where anyone can record, produced, edit and produce there own music, film or story. New funding platforms like KickStarter mean we no longer need big corporations, chasing big profits. The future is agglomeration and platforms. Platforms and services that allow content to be created and agglomerators that make it available on demand with flexible subscription models. In the future it will be journalist we follow and the content they curate, as well as produce, not publishers. Laurie Oakes Dot Com will be your go to source for news every day. No big corporation just a small team of dedicated professionals curating global sources, writing their own stuff and publishing it.