Behind the newspaper paywall – lessons in charging for online content: a comparative analysis of why Australian newspapers are stuck in the purgatorial space between digital and print

Abstract

This article examines one response to the financial ‘crisis’ of print newspapers addressing the rise of digital paywall systems to monetise journalism. It analyses selected daily mastheads’ paywalls in the United States, Britain and Australia, comparing the type, pricing and audience uptake. This article reviews scholarly and industry literature to identify international newspaper paywall trends and considers these in the Australian context. The article finds paywalls are becoming the norm, with metered paywalls favoured over hard paywalls; paywall prices are increasing, after initial reductions, to offset digital subscriptions cannibalising print subscription revenues. As audiences and advertising migrate from print to our screens, a broader view is required. The argument here is that, in the short term, revenues generated from Australian digital subscriptions and digital advertising alone cannot sustain newsrooms, but the cost of print together with falling hardcopy circulations suggest digital paywalls must not be overlooked. In the immediate, Australia’s major newspapers are stuck in a purgatorial space between paywalls and print.

Keeping out the Masses: Understanding the Popularity and Implications of Internet Paywalls

“…In [10], authors analyze selected paywalled news sites in US, UK and Australia to compare the type, pricing and audience uptake. Results show that paywalls are part of newspapers' toolkit for bringing in new revenue but there is no evidence to suggest they can be a standalone solution.…”

Still the Main Source: The Established Media

“…This has further driven down advertising's unit price (Carson 2015(Carson : 1035. While it is true that online readership of Australia's daily newspapers is at record highs, revenues from paywalls and digital advertising have not yet matched revenues lost from hardcopy advertising necessary to sustain large newsrooms, thus explaining repeated cutbacks to their journalism resources (ibid.…”

Reference press metamorphosis in the digital context: clickbait and tabloid strategies in Elpais.com

“…However, the dilemma between free access and payment is far from resolved. The viability of either model involves contextual factors, ranging from the contents for which charges could be made to the prestige of the publication, the ability to attract large audiences, or the business conditions, such as the Scott Trust which supports The Guardian (Arrese, 2015;Carson, 2015;Sjøvaag, 2015).…”