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I-Team: Will You Pay For News Online?

I-Team: Will You Pay For News Online? - Thursday, March 12, 2009 at 10:48PM EST

? Reported by: Jeff Chirico
Thursday, Mar 12, 2009 @ 10:48pm EST
Would you pay for your news online? As the economy takes a toll on newspapers, publishers are trying to find new ways to make money. And as consumer and I-Team reporter Jeff Chirico tells us, one of those ways is to stop giving away news for free.

"Imagine if you will, sitting down to a cup of coffee, turning on your home computer to read today's newspaper." When this news report on youtube. com first aired in 1981 --the idea of the internet was revolutionary. Today.... "I get all my news online. But are you willing to pay for it? Free online news readership is skyrocketing --while paid print circulation subscriptions are falling. Ed Ackerman, journalism professor at Luzerne County Community College says “it begs the question if anything you get in the newspaper is available free on the web, why buy the newspaper."

"In retrospect that was a mistake." Times-Shamrock CEO Scott Lynett says declining advertising sales is forcing his company to consider charging for access to sites like The Times Tribune, Citizens Voice. "The idea was give it away for free on web, you'll get eyeballs and advertising will support eyeballs.

One paper in our area has been a pioneer. The Press Enterprise in Bloomsburg has been charging for their print and online versions for five years. It's a move experts say other papers will have to make. “It never made sense to us to give content away for free..." Press Enterprise publisher Brandon Eyerly says his company charges 75 dollars a year for the online news. It's a reliable source of income. “The other newspapers there was a big fear they'd lose traffic. Lose visitors. But if you're not monetizing that traffic (edit)there's no point"

Richard Connor, publisher of The Times Leader says he does “not see us charging for online content." Connor says he'll find other ways to make money on the web. “If we were to charge for our online product we could be driving people to competitors website."

But Ackerman says without strong ad sales to support free sites he thinks papers will have to charge and we'll pay. “If suddenly there's a quick, easy way to bill you, that’s seamless...you'll do it." At some point, there may be no other option.

The Times-Shamrock has a committee looking into charging for online news. Lynett did not say if or when it will happen.
 


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