Beyond that, stories tend to grow as more sources cover them from different angles, and often a larger and more informed version of a story becomes the product of that. And that version is more often than not going to be free. TechDirt picked up on Richmond's article. online newspaper advertising has seen slowing growth. And when their isn't a subscription model in place, advertising is an even bigger key to revenue. So publications that already have a solid subscriber base are not going to want to give up that money.
But, one has to wonder if these online newspapers would see better advertising revenue come in if they were not charging for their content, because advertisers know that they can reach more readers on a widely available, free site. Richmond made an interesting point about younger generations as well. "I think it will become harder and harder for the FT to maintain its audience as the internet generation climbs the corporate ladder," he says. "The current audience believe they are getting content that they can’t get anywhere else - and that certainly isn’t available free - but the audience of the future may already have found other, more accessible publishers to meet their needs."
The paid subscription model is still working for some. So far. There's no doubt that this is going to hinder the growth of their readership. But until a publication sees the effects start to snowball downhill, it might be stubborn and protective of its content, which it feels is truly a cut above the rest and worth paying for. The Wall Street Journal
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