The Montgomery Advertiser will be putting its website behind a paywall starting Nov. 1 according to a source at the Advertiser’s parent company, Gannett Inc. Gannett announced during an investor meeting in February that it was planning to move all of its community newspapers to a paid model by the end of 2012. The only Gannett publication that will remain completely free to consumers online will be USA Today.
The Advertiser has tried numerous online strategies, none of which have been a resounding success. Many of the major stories in the Sunday edition of the Advertiser have been presented online as just an excerpt followed by a note encouraging readers to pick up the print edition for the complete story. That has kept some blockbuster stories from spreading virally online.
Newspapers across the country have been trying to cope with the shifting economic landscape of the print industry. As print revenues plummet, traditional media companies are being forced to find a sustainable revenue model in the new media world. Paywalls have emerged as the monetization method of choice now that newspapers realize online ads only produce a fraction of revenue once generated by print ads.
Most online publications that utilize a paywall allow consumers to read a certain number of articles for free each month before the pay wall goes up. That will likely be the case the the Advertiser, as it has been with other Gannett properties. But in order for paywalls to succeed, the content has to be strong enough that the online audience is willing to fork over money for access. That is a particularly difficult proposition since online consumers have been conditioned to believe most everything on the Web should be free. It’s been especially challenging for national publications because there are so many competing news outlets. Most consumers simply go elsewhere rather than pay.
Community newspapers have responded to this problem by offering superior local coverage that consumers can’t find anywhere else. Will that be the Advertiser’s strategy? Will they be able to staff the online effort for success? Will they fall victim to the online publication death spiral: readership shrinks > staff shrinks > content shrinks > readership shrinks > staff shrinks > content shrinks… ?
But the only question that really matters is… Will you pay for online access to the Advertiser?
[UPDATE: The Montgomery Advertiser announced today (Nov. 4) that it will be pursuing a business model almost exactly as outlined above. Yellowhammer wishes the great team at the Advertiser good luck in their new direction!]
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