Paying for content

Johannesburg - For more than a century, newspapers have depended on two main revenue streams: cover price and advertising. But the traditional business model has collapsed on the internet, where consumers have become used to getting their news for nothing, and advertising revenues haven't yet proved adequate to make up the difference.

One answer is to charge for online content, but this is fraught with difficulty, including the danger of alienating readers. Media baron Rupert Murdoch was largely vilified when he dared speak of placing News Corp online publications behind a "pay wall" - an electronic dividing line behind which content is available only on payment of a fee.

A few South African titles are experimenting with this solution. The Witness based in KwaZulu- Natal made the move last year. It has chosen a partial pay wall where users are charged for local news but still access national and international content for free.

"We realised that we were bleeding readers because they were receiving content for free from our website although we couldn't quantify it," said Yves Vanderhaeghen, deputy editor of the Witness. "Secondly, we could use the revenue to invest in the site, which is not dynamic at this stage."

Vanderhaeghen said his publication is in a better position than other publications to experiment with a pay wall, because it's limited to a particular geographic area. Those newspapers covering larger geographic areas and more general news may have a tougher time making the move as competitors could eat into their audience base.

What happens when one publication chooses a pay wall while a direct competitor is completely free? Vanderhaeghen believes readers will remain loyal to their publication as long as it gives them something unique. He asserts that publishers should look at monetising their content more, instead of relying heavily on advertising because this traditional model has not worked well with the new medium.

The reason publishers find themselves in a pickle when it comes to monetising online papers, according to the editor, is because they approach online media in a business-as-usual manner. There has to be a total re-look at the business of newspapers, instead of tweaks here and there.

Vanderhaeghen feels that fear sometimes dissuades charging for content instead of hard facts. Even when charging, the question is what value to place on information, knowledge, on a product that cannot be quantified. Despite some challenges, he declares that the trend will spread.

Media24 CEO Francois Groepe describes pay walls as not a feasible option, unless content is specialised. The organisation continues to experiment to find a model that can be replicated across as many titles and content as possible.

“Our view is that it could work in certain specialised categories, such as highly specialised financial news for example provided by the Financial Times, or content that is restricted otherwise." 

Following the pay wall move are two Avusa publications based in the Eastern Cape. The Herald and the Daily dispatch, based in Port Elizabeth and East London respectively, will also be charging users for content.

For now, it seems pay walls are best for niche or localised publications. But partial pay walls can possibly apply to specific sections of topics on a site that is supplied for free.