The impact of technological change on newspapers
Technological change has seen newspaper readership decline, as audiences move towards reading news and current affairs via the internet. Rising printing and paper costs have pushed traditional news journalism to adapt. A newspaper title offers a news product using the internet platform. These online newspapers mean less revenue because people do not need to pay to read information. To cope with this many titles have introduced a paywall (a way of charging audiences to read their content).
A paywall may include online publications having restricted/ limited access to certain articles and information unless an individual has purchased a paid subscription. In 2010, newspapers wanted to increase their revenue due to a decline in paid readership... many papers have achieved persuading readers to pay by perhaps only showing snippets gripping news story, leading them on so they feel interested in paying to read the rest. A prime example of two popular news papers which use 'paywalls' are The Guardian and The Daily Mail. The Guardian follows a scheme which appeals to its readers by asking them for a £5 monthly fee to contribute, however, this is not compulsory. They base their funding of the online paper around customers generosity... by not forcing their readers to pay a fee they are preserving their 'reach and influence'. The result of this helped increase in digital revenues to £94.1 million (it was a big success for the company). The Daily Mail followed a similar scheme where they ask for a voluntary subscription (which may include some special features which only those who donate will have access to).
In addition, another newspaper which uses a paywall to generate a higher profit rate is /'The Telegraph'. The new digital subscription 'Telegraph Premium' encourages its readers to pay between £2 - £6 a week for extras including a premium digital edition of the newspaper for tablet or smartphone.
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