MediaNews introduces online paywall for 23 titles
MediaNews Group, a leading US publisher, has unveiled plans to place 23 of its smaller newspaper websites behind an online paywall – even for people who subscribe to the print editions.
The harsh move is unusual in the industry which generally rewards print subscribers with an automatic print subscription, gratis.
Under the complex system users will be allocated a maximum of five free to view articles per month with additional reading incurring a $5.99 monthly charge or a $59.99 bill for a full years access.
Print subscribers will receive a discount on these rates, which equate to $1.99 and $19.99 respectively.
These paywalls will only be implemented at small and medium scaled papers, with 34 larger titles; including the Bennington Banner and Brattlebaro Reformer, remaining unaffected.