New York Paywall

1. What factors suggest that the newspaper industry is in decline? Why do you think this is the case?

Over the past decade, circulation numbers have been declining for weekday and weekend editions according to the Newspaper Association of America [Case Exhibit 5].

The main factor affecting the newspapers negatively today is the internet, which completely changes the way the news and other content provided by the newspaper (advertisements, opinions and columns, TV listings, stock listings, sports scores, etc.) are viewed and read by the consumer. The newspaper brings all these elements together in one place and each of them secures a certain part of the price charged for the newspaper. The internet has caused all these elements to become completely separated from each other and the users can chose exactly what they view and where they go to get the news and information they need. The major part (75%) of newspaper revenue was assured through the advertising, but the internet has enabled companies, as well as individuals, to

Place their advertisements to websites specializing in that particular area, so the newspapers lose their main source of revenue [Case Exhibit 6]

1. How would you evaluate the current Paywall compared with the two prior ones? Do the advertising and subscription data suggest that it is “working”? 

1. What are the pros and cons of the design features of the paywall – its “leakiness,” the cutoff of 20 articles etc.? 

In the new paywall system the readers who came in through google were restricted to five-articles-per-day limit over and above the 20 monthly allotted articles, whereas those who visited from social media sites like Facebook and twitter as well as other search engines faced no limits. This is called “leaky paywall” design which was adopted by the Times. The leaky paywall helped to generate additional revenue by creating a social buzz.