Paying for digital news
The New York Times' Times Reader
I think most online news readers would balk at the prospect of paying for digital news. I mean, it’s the Internet… the virtual land of the free. From YouTube to Wikipedia, the Internet has nurtured the notion that information can and should exist freely.
Well, in his article Your News Content is Worth Zero to Digital Consumers, Steve Outing says the news media shouldn’t expect people to pay just for the ability to read articles online, especially general news that they can get for free elsewhere. Instead, newspapers need to find a way to offer consumers something valuable, something exclusive and something that lasts, if we even expect them to think twice about subscribing to a paper online.
I agree with Outing.
I wouldn’t pay for news if that’s all I would receive because it would feel like I was paying for nothing. Yes, I’d get to read the articles, but I wouldn’t be able to do anything with them. I might pay for access to the NY Times’ video series “One in A Million” because it’s high-quality, niche content. And I might also pay for any Metro or NY-based content because of its relevance to me as a New Yorker. I couldn’t, however, justify paying for national news I could get from the Huffington or Washington Post.
On that note, if charging for online content is to work, newspapers need to offer something more.
Access to premium content, like web applications that enhance the digital news experience might be enticing for consumers. Users would get something they “own” that justifies their spending, more than just text on a screen. The New York Times’ Times Reader is a step in this direction. (The interactive computer program offers users a digital rendition of the current and past week’s print editions. The issues also update for corrections and later news.)
Like Outing says, it’s about making paying for news access desirable, and to do that, consumers need to see they’re getting their money’s worth. Otherwise, people just aren’t going to pay, and the content may as well be free anyway. (At least there’s some ad support.)
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