I was inspired to write this after reading Jason Wilson’s article about the Murdoch paywall here.
I don’t think the paywall proposed by Rupert Murdoch will work for all of his content because, for the most part, it doesn’t provide more value than what’s already out there. I think he has a chance with his business and finance content but that’s as far as it goes. But as I’ve said in a previous post, I wouldn’t expect a cost to be assigned to all News Limited content.
I doubt that Australians will pay for content that they can find elsewhere for free. I also think that if and when the paywall is constructed, readers will shift their attention to the ABC, niche and international publications, all of which are capable of providing a rich selection of both professionally and amateurly produced information.
There is an ample supply of professional, freelance, citizen and on-the-spot coverage reporters who are willing to contribute to news publications either for free or for a fee. Either way, if media publications find a demand for specific content, they will make use of most, if not all, of the valuable content made available to them, regardless of labels assigned to reporters.
Perhaps if News Limited could build on its credibility and public trust, and aim for greater transparency then it could consider assigning monetary value to its online news products. There are many ways of achieving and maintaining a top notch brand.
I don’t think there is any question about the skill and talent of individual staff members at News Limited, but the organisation would do well to make better use of its talent. It will most likely find out that it’s sitting on an unexplored goldmine.
Mark Bahnisch and many commenters respond to Jason at Larvatus Prodeo: What if the Paywall Works?















Comments and Moderation
October 15, 2009 — DebNews Limited columnist, Andrew Bolt, raises concern about the number and intensity of abusive comments submitted to his blog at the Herald Sun online news site.
Bolt is worried and annoyed that some of his reader comments are being incorrectly attributed to him in other publications. Moreover, he is concerned about the damage caused to his reputation due to the tardy verification of information or purpose of others. This is a common concern for many journalist bloggers/bloggers and it is one of the reasons why moderators and clear rules for commenters have become an essential part of the publishing process on popular mainstream media blogs.
This is an ongoing problem for many online news blogs and it’s one that needs to be addressed.
These are some of the questions that I am considering in my work.
UPDATE October 16, 2009: Another article on this topic was posted here today.