Pay Walls

[poliphilo]

The pay walls have gone up at The Times and The Sunday Times. Goodbye guys, it was nice knowing you.

Of course Rupert Murdoch is entirely within his rights to charge for content, but I think he's miscalculating. He's an old bloke and he doesn't understand the Net. The old newspapers no longer have a monopoly on news and comment- and if they ask us to pay for what we've become accustomed to getting for free, we'll simply go elsewhere.

Anyway, it'll be interesting to see how things work out. 

Comments

[wlotus.livejournal.com]

The NYT did a pay model a few years back and lost money, because people can easily get the news elsewhere for free. I wonder what is different about this model that makes them think it will work.

I didn't see pay well on the site this morning.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I suppose Murdoch is gambling on The Times being a uniquely prestigious title, but I don't see that it is- or not any longer. There are three other British national broadsheets- all offering similar news coverage- and a range of comment from left (the Guardian) to right (the Daily Telegraph).