Now that Rupert Murdoch announced all his newspaper properties are putting up a pay firewall of some sort, I advised other newspapers to follow suit. This may be happening in Boston:
“Nothing is absolute, but we are heading toward some sort of consumer pay model,” for its Web site Boston.com, Globe spokesman Bob Powers said Friday.
Powers said the newspaper had assembled a team to explore options for online charges and informed Globe unions of its intent Thursday. Charging for Web content holds risks because it can drive away users who are accustomed to browsing the site for free, and in turn can lead to a loss of online advertising.
Folks, this only works if readers and advertisers are also encouraged to move away from print. Raise prices for newsstand sales, charge more for print ads than online. But features on the Web that do NOT appear in paper. Put your comics, Dear Abby, horoscope, stock prices, etc. online but NOT in print. The Luddites will howl bloody murder, but their numbers a dwindling. Catering to a soon to be extinct audience is form of suicide.
Tags: Boston Globe, online
Billy Dennis is a former reporter and editor at small daily and weekly newspapers in Illinois and Missouri. He comments on media, news and politics. He also owns and operates 
