Paywalls Receive Praise
October 2nd, 2009Last time, we talked about what might be considered the democratization of news coverage: everybody could have a shot at breaking stories. This week, something towards the opposite end of the scale has come up, as Martin Sorrell agreed with Rupert Murdoch that paywalls should protect premium content.
Emma Barnett reported that Sorrell, who is the WPP’s chief executive, said at a conference today, “Murdoch is absolutely correct to try and get people paying for content – it is critical for traditional media businesses as there is not enough advertising to support these models anymore. Getting consumers to pay for content they value is key. We have to find those areas.”
Now, as before, how much you cheer on that statement may vary depending on which side of the new media/old media split you find yourself.
Also, regardless of how supportive you feel, there’s the question of whether Sorrell can indeed “find those areas,” because all sorts of people, from bloggers to veteran newspaper reporters, seem to believe that print is dying.
However, given that Sorrell and Murdoch are both very rich and powerful men, they’ll have the ability to dictate how a good many writers will operate for at least a few years to come. So for better or for worse, expect to see some paywall experiments occur before long.
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