I truly meant it more than three years ago when I said in this blog that I wanted to move on from the paywall argument. This issue and the attention it commands are perhaps the most consistent sign I see that the newspaper industry is stuck in the past.
But I keep getting sucked in. People continue making the same points on both sides and I keep joining the discussion.
Most recently Ryan Chittum of CJR has posted a detailed response to my post that criticized his ridiculous claim that the “war” was over.
This will not be a detailed response. I believe my argument stands on its merit and that it’s stronger than his original argument and his second argument and arguments no doubt to come. And I have better things to do with my time than persuading people who will never agree.
One point of his response deserves mention here: I faulted Chittum for not showing the work behind his estimate that the New York Times paywall is bringing in $100 million in revenue. I should note that he responded by providing a link in this piece to a more detailed analysis of the Times paywall. It’s not an explanation of the $100 million figure, and I disagree with his analysis, but I should update that he is now providing more explanation of the number.
I hope paywalls are successful for everyone who’s trying them. But I hope even more that someone (preferably my company, Digital First Media) develops a forward-looking model that will support healthy media in the future. If Digital First makes a significant move relating to paywalls sometime, I guess that might prompt me to blog on this topic again.
But otherwise, I’m leaving this argument to people who aren’t tired of it. I mean it this time. I think.
Update: Two comments say they are seeing a video on this post. I didn’t put it there and I can’t see it on my Mac on either Safari or Chrome. If you see it, can you tell me where it is and what computer or browser you’re using. I’m not sure I can fix it, but if you know how to fix it, I’d appreciate any help. And I don’t recommend clicking it. But if you do, please let me know if it’s related. Thanks!
Update 2: Apparently WordPress has started dropping ads into free WP blogs (probably notified me and I didn’t read it?). Anyway, I just paid to be ad-free. And yes, I appreciate that irony.
[…] Chittum has responded to this piece in detail. He’s wrong on lots of points, but I am tired of the argument and think this piece holds up […]
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who decided to put the Youtube video onto this blog site? Google?
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Hmmm, that’s odd. I can’t see a video on this post (just checked). I embed them occasionally, but I don’t wee what you’re talking about.
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Steve – It looks like it is a video based advertisement automatically placed by your WordPress CMS.
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What happens when?
huff.to/Xd2arM
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Steve: Personally, I’d love to see the conversation (and action!) turn to the middle ground, which is developing a decent membership model that’s capable of bringing in significant revenues to a news operation. I’ve yet to see any of the big news players take it seriously; if someone would give it a real go and put some brains and resources behind a news membership program, we’d have some evidence. It seems like news execs still interpret this as the NPR model, and haven’t experimented boldly enough to develop a beyond-NPR member model, with commercial benefits attracting paying members in numbers significant enough to support newsroom costs.
Hell, you could still put *some* “premium” news content behind a wall or metered wall, accessible to “members” or “subscribers” (where the latter pay only for complete access to content, vs. members getting that plus commercial goodies). Perhaps your CJR critics could focus on pushing these ideas out there more prominently, rather than wasting time on the “Great Paywall Debate.”
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Good points, Steve. I’d love to see someone try a thoughtful membership model. But I wouldn’t count on CJR getting off the paywall bandwagon.
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i see the video embedded too….and not clicking on it, FYI. I’ll dig into this paywall topic more—have not done so much in the past. Thanks, Steve.
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It has an “About these ads” links above the video, so I’m guessing it’s a video ad. I have a screenshot if you want it, Steve. It’s a Jack in the Box ad on YouTube.
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Thanks, Lisa! I can see it on my iPhone. Will click the link and see if I can figure out how to turn off.
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Steve,
Luckily for you, the paywall argument will decamp to university campuses, where Google’s surrogates, heavily funded by people with a financial stake in the outcome, will commence arguing that the information in university courses “wants to be free”…which has turned out to mean “Google wants information to be free so that Google et al can monetize it.”
I know you are tired of the debate, and few have engaged it as honestly as you have. But until we learn how to keep Google from privately profiting from the public interest…the debate will continue.
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hi steve … never really agreed with your paywall stance … i always compared it to a bar giving beer away but what do i know … don’t follow your industry much anymore but always interested in what you have to say… very sorry about your nephew
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Well, there are solutions alternative to subscription paywalls, and they work better than paywalls– convert more casual readers into paying ones, generate more revenue without losing traffic, and engage readers more — but it seems that the discussion has its own walls.
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[…] has won this debate was one of my 10 most-viewed posts of the year. But finally I had enough and swore off the paywall debate (giving myself an out if Digital First makes a significant move regarding paywalls that I think I […]
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[…] media companies. (I recommend Jay Rosen’s piece on the Sullivan move, too. Since I’ve sworn off writing about paywalls, I’m going to refrain from my own post about Sullivan’s move, but I’ve subscribed […]
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[…] year I said I was tired of the whole paywall argument and would stop commenting on it unless Digital First made a significant move regarding paywalls. I […]
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[…] am no less tired of paywall arguments than I was when I sort of swore off them for a while in December. But I agreed to be on a paywall panel tomorrow at the International Festival of Journalists in […]
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[…] said before that I’ve grown tired of expressing my views about paywalls. That hasn’t changed just because CEO John Paton has adopted an “all-access” subscription […]
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[…] have criticized the Times for its paywall, but again, only in the context of a long history of questioning the newspaper industry’s overall strategy regarding digital revenue. I’ve also criticized paywall moves by Gannett and the Lancaster New […]
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