The Publisher and Executive Editor of the only daily newspaper in the state capitol, the Tallahassee Democrat, wrote to readers today that they will soon begin charging readers to read their online content.
Patrick Dorsey & Bob Gabordi wrote that beginning July 1, they will be offering new "models" for readers to enjoy the paper. For subscribers to the daily paper, nothing changes at Tallahassee.com.
But for others, including this reader who likes to check out Bill Cotterell's political reporting, well, we're all going to have to pay the piper, or go without.
The paper introduced these new models:
- Full-media content/electronic delivery (digital
and e-edition): For $14.95 per month, you
get all of our websites and the e-edition
replica version of the
Tallahassee Democrat.Single copy and day passes: Copies of the
printed Tallahassee Democrat will continue to
be sold in vending machines and through
local retail outlets. You can also get a 24-
hour pass on our websites for $2 per day.
- Web content (digital-only model): For $9.95
per month, you can subscribe to Tallahassee.
com, NoleSports.com, RattlerNews.com and
the full suite of Tallahassee.com affiliated
websites.
The Democrat's conversion to charging for paid content makes them one of the first major local daily newspapers in the country to charge for all online content. The Wall Street Journal charges for much of their content, and the New York Times has announced that they will do so early next year.
The Democrat is taking a significant risk in charging for content, since no doubt there will be many casual readers who will never go on to their site beginning next month again, now that they'll have to pay. For politicians and other state officials though, it may very well be worth it – again, for those who don't already subscribe to the paper. But it is a risk. Perhaps newspapers should have been charging a long time ago, but because they haven't, readers are used to bringing up virtually every website in the world for no fee. But the advertising slump has been a bitch, and obviously the Democrat executives feel its worth it.
This article appears in Jun 17-23, 2010.