{"id":115609,"date":"2019-03-01T17:07:19","date_gmt":"2019-03-01T17:07:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sftarticles.wpenginepowered.com\/en\/?p=115609"},"modified":"2025-07-01T22:17:10","modified_gmt":"2025-07-02T05:17:10","slug":"news-paywalls-media","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/news-paywalls-media\/","title":{"rendered":"News site paywalls: Are you missing out if you don’t pay?"},"content":{"rendered":"

With the well-documented rise of podcasting and a whole internet full of information, it doesn’t seem like we’re wanting for more content.<\/p>\n

But as people have given up on their local papers<\/a> and established publications increasingly gate their content, the idea of paying for digital subscriptions has left us wondering: do more paywalls reduce access to reliable news?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Internet users are accustomed to accessing content for free, so paywalls have kind of always had an uphill battle to fight. In theory, they don\u2019t seem completely unreasonable.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, there\u2019s no \u201cright\u201d to reliable, balanced news. And, according to the Brookings Institution<\/span><\/a> putting the news online hasn\u2019t really helped media channels make more money.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"online<\/p>\n

Paywalls aren’t new<\/h3>\n

The paywall has been around since 1997.\u00a0Pioneered by the Wall Street Journal,<\/a> the initial experiment with the revenue stream was fairly successful. However, most general news outlets had concerns that paywalls would reduce readership and, thereby, digital ad revenue.<\/p>\n

The American Press Institute found that 53% of people pay for news.<\/strong> The report found that people are more likely to pay for digitally native sources than for the digital version of a newspaper.<\/p>\n

Maybe there\u2019s an idea that if you\u2019re going to pay for something, you want high-quality content \u2014 interesting reads like long-form pieces from the New Yorker or Wired.<\/p>\n

Local news brings politics and breaking stories, but also high school football scores.<\/p>\n

There are also resources like PBS and NPR, those who rely on donations to pay for quality reporting.<\/p>\n

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10 Tricks for spotting fake news<\/p>\r\n Read Now \u25ba<\/a>\r\n <\/div>\r\n <\/div>\r\n <\/a>\r\n <\/div>\r\n<\/div>\n

Higher quality niche publications charge a lot<\/h3>\n

Recently we came across an episode of the Atlantic debate podcast<\/a>, Crazy\/Genius entitled, \u201cAre We Killing Local News?\u201d The two sides looked at the viability of paywall content, and whether it could save the journalism industry.<\/p>\n

The pro paywall guest, a former Denver Post managing editor, started a new publication that charges about $500 a year for in-depth tech sector coverage.<\/p>\n

The idea is, they can afford to pay reporters to spend a lot of time doing investigative work and can provide news that not every free publication will be able to push out there. So those people who need to stay in-the-know can pay for a quality publication that could potentially give them a leg up in the space.<\/p>\n

That model is a lot like professional associations which provide members with access to studies and content that not everyone can read.<\/p>\n

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How to personalize your Apple News feed<\/p>\r\n Read Now \u25ba<\/a>\r\n <\/div>\r\n <\/div>\r\n <\/a>\r\n <\/div>\r\n<\/div>\n

There\u2019s also Politico Pro<\/a>, which has been around since 2011. It charges their subscribers a yearly fee in the mid-four-figures for in-depth coverage of topics like healthcare and energy. A subscription to the New York Times isn\u2019t especially prohibitive \u2014 they have a number of deals\u2014 the newspaper is a dollar a week <\/a>for a limited time.<\/p>\n

But, say you pay for NYT, the Washington Post, maybe Wired, too. Add in your local paper, and your media budget for the year starts to climb.<\/p>\n

Which begs the question, how many people lose out on quality information because they can\u2019t or won\u2019t pay for multiple publications?<\/strong><\/p>\n

If local news adopts this model, that means that some communities won\u2019t hear about the things that affect them on a daily basis.<\/p>\n

Many people may be okay with paying for content, but it definitely leaves out a wide swath of the population \u2014 and eventually, could limit access to voter information that allows lower income folks to make their voices heard.<\/p>\n

\"reading<\/p>\n

Is it fair that we have to pay for quality knowledge?<\/h3>\n

It depends on how you frame this question.<\/p>\n

Good content is worth paying for \u2014 those who create it are putting in a lot of work that has value.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Plus, the Media Insight Project<\/a> said that four-fifths of respondents in a recent poll said they were happy with their subscriptions.<\/p>\n

Most subscriptions are about $10 per month, a little cheaper than a Spotify account or Netflix, so it\u2019s not this huge investment.<\/p>\n

The issue that arises though is that lower-income people might lose access to good information.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Yes, it\u2019s fair to gate access to certain things \u2014 especially if you view media as entertainment in the same vein as things like Audible, Hulu, Netflix, or Spotify.<\/p>\n

But we will need to do something about the potential widening knowledge gap<\/strong>, as well as the rise in fake news.<\/a><\/p>\n

As people rely more on social media for breaking news, readers lose out on accurate reporting, local issues, and scientific breakthroughs. Those who can<\/em> afford industry subscriptions can access information not everyone can access.<\/p>\n

Still, there are public radio stations like PBS and NPR that offer free news to all \u2014 maybe that\u2019s a lifeline we should do more to nurture. Although those outlets are often targets of budget-slashing politicians, PBS costs just $1.35 per citizen per year.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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After destroying local news, Facebook throws $300 million at local news<\/p>\r\n Read Now \u25ba<\/a>\r\n <\/div>\r\n <\/div>\r\n <\/a>\r\n <\/div>\r\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If you can’t afford to pay for news, are you missing out?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9161,"featured_media":131554,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","wpcf-pageviews":0},"categories":[1015],"tags":[1826,1562],"usertag":[],"vertical":[],"content-category":[],"class_list":["post-115609","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-media","tag-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t