Johnston Press, the second biggest local newspaper publisher in the UK, has announced it is to conduct pay-wall trials on three of its papers.
The publisher owns around 300 newspapers in the UK and in a bid to stave off low advertising revenues, it is looking into asking readers to pay for the news it puts on the web.
The newspapers which are to be put behind a pay-wall are the Northumberland Gazette, the Whitby Gazette, the Worksop Guardian, the Ripley & Heanor News (all based in England) and the Southern Reporter and the Carrick Gazette (based in Scotland).
Charging for content
It is just a trial at the moment, with Johnston Press looking to charge £5 for three months of complete web access. If you're against paying such a fee, then you'll be directed to a site to buy the newspapers.
The idea of a pay-wall for news content seems to be gaining momentum. This is mainly due to the announcement that Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation is to erect its own pay-wall for the Sun and the Times as early as next year.
Via BBC
Your comments (1) Click to add a new comment
artesiancraig
November 30th 2009
1. I actually believe Local press has got more of an argument to charge for content than the nationals. They can offer news that no one else will touch making their service full of local value. Big news will be picked up by everyone, but local news services can offer real insight.
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