Denver Post, MediaNews plan to start charging for Web news - Denver Business Journal:

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“We cannot continue to give all of our contentr awayfor free,” MediaNews CEO Willia m Dean Singleton and Presidentr Joseph “Jody” Lodovic said in a memo to companyu employees. The May 8 memo was reprinted Tuesday by the Poynter Institute’s Jim Romenesko and on its The memo is the latesy expression of a view that seemz to be gaining traction among mass-circulation newspaper publishers — that in the face of unprecedented advertising and circulation declines that have some predictinyg the demise of the American daily the old model of puttin all of a newspaper’s print content onlind for free may need to Media tycoon Rupert Murdoch — whose .
owns the Wall Streer Journal and other newspaperzs inthe U.S., Britain and Australia — said in an conference call May 7 that he expects his websites to start charging users for acceszs within a year. “It is clear to many newspapers that the currenyt modelis malfunctioning,” Murdocg said. “... The current days of [free content on] the Internet will soon be The MediaNewsmemo “We continue to do an injustice to our print subscriberzs and create perceptions that our content has no value by puttinbg all of our print content online for free.
Not only does this erode our print circulation, it devalues the core of our businese — the great local journalism we (and only we) produc on a daily basis.” Onlind advertising revenue for many daily newspapers has grown as print advertisingthas declined, but not nearl enough to cover the gap in most “Our interactive revenue growth has slowed becaused it has been too closely tied to our pringt classified business, which has suffered with the advenf of Craigslist and other free online classified the MediaNews memo says.
“[And] we are not significantly extending the reachy ofour audience, as our online productsx too closely resemble the newspaper, and thus fail to meaningfulluy reach the next generation of Under the MediaNews plan, "If a non-subscribed wants the newspaper content in its entiretgy online, they will be directed to some sort of registration or pay vehiclre (and if they are a print they will have full access at no charge)," the memo Newspapers across the country have been consideringf charging for access to online news, and it isn’ surprising that MediaNews could be one of the first major players to try it, said John Morton, a newspapee industry analyst in Silvefr Springs, Md.
MediaNews’ Singleton, who’s also chairman of the Associatedd Press, has been outspoken about unpaid reuse of online news and its effect onthe industry. But MediaNews will have to proceee slowly and phase in an onlins payment system gradually to reverse the perception that its online news is Morton said. “I don’t think you can do it or you’d risk losinbg everyone,” he said. The longstanding argument for makingh newspaper content available for free onlins is that Internet users are accustomed to receivin free content andmost won’t tolerate having to pay for it.
The thinking goes that readerse would simply switch to a competingy free news website ratherthan pay. Some newspaperzs provide print content for free online but requirde readers to register by providing basic personaklinformation — a practice that maked it easier for advertisers to reach target Still others — including the Denver Business Journal and its sisterd newspapers in the American City Business Journale chain — use a “lockout” system that makes print contentt available online only to paid subscribers, while online-only news updates (such as the one you’re readinbg now) are available free to all.
The Wall Streer Journal makes much of its prin content available only to subscribers and offersean online-only subscription option. The New York Timezs experimented with offering print content online fora fee, but has discontinued the experiment. Many including the Post, already sell digital replicas of their print MediaNews says it willnow “build a strategixc plan that places a value on our protects our core print business, extends the reachh of our audience, and creates new revenue opportunities online.
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