By Chris Graham
Associate Editor
Newspapers need to make money — that’s a simple fact. The New York Times understands this and has changed its paywall yet again. The new policy, while limiting content, should be embraced and not bashed because this is just another sign of the times.
On Tuesday, The New York Times announced the change to its paywall. Non-subscribers would only be able to access 10 free articles a month before being charged for the content they are viewing, according to a March 20 Huffington Post article.
The article also reported the current policy allows 20 free articles a month before readers have to pay, and the change will go into effect in April.
This move brings backs the ever-so-prevalent topic of how print journalism is slowly fading away and newspapers have to find revenue somewhere.
Although the paywall adjustment is a nuisance, the change is a smart move by The New York Times to make sure it gets more of a residual back on its content, which it knows is in high demand.
The rate to access all digital content on nytimes.com is $8.75 per week and billed every four weeks at $35, according to its website.
Is it going to be difficult for non-subscribers to pick and choose which articles to read during a given month if they don’t want to subscribe? Yes. If they want to have total autonomy over the content, they can go to a news site where all the content is free.
The New York Times’ management of this change is also smart. It’s still giving non-subscribers the option to 10 articles per month, but it’s also cutting back the content enough to make viewers want to become subscribers.
Along with the change, the amount of subscribers suggests there won’t be much backlash from this new policy change.
According to the Huffington Post article, The New York Times began its paywall last year and already has more than 454,000 subscribers to its content.
Numbers don’t lie.
When this change takes place in April, expect to see The New York Times’ number of digital subscribers rise, as some non-subscribers will want all the content they can receive with no restrictions.
If loyal non-subscribers trust The New York Times’ accuracy and reporting and want to have this mass amount of digital content, the paywall adjustment is a small obstacle to climb.
Those at The New York Times know they have a captive audience and they are taking full advantage by trying to make money off that audience. It’s a perfect example of the changing times in journalism, and The New York Times is rightfully looking to capitalize.
grahamcw@bonaventure.edu
