New Statesman implements metred paywall to lessen reliance on advertising
The New Statesman has become the latest news organisation to erect a paywall after inviting readers to ‘support our journalism’ in the face of a rising tide of fake news, Russian interference and Twitter bots.
New Statesman implements metred paywall to lessen reliance on advertising
A weekly politics and culture magazine, The New Statesman has been free to browse online, supported by advertising, but in a fast-changing world editor Jason Cowley has decided that the time is right to ring in the changes.
Cowley wrote: “Great writing isn’t cheap and we don’t want to rely on advertisers alone. While we’re happy for you to continue to read some of our content for free, we’re asking those who get the most out of New Statesman online to contribute to our journalism.”
Under the new model digital subscribers will be granted privileged access to the latest issue of each magazine online, prior to it hitting newsstands, while also enjoying continued unlimited access to all New Statesman content; including blogs, opinion pieces and features.
Those who can’t, or won’t, pay up will still be able to access a ‘limited’ number of articles for free each month.
The New Statesman follows on from the likes of DC Thomson which has introduced paywalls across its own titles to protect local journalism.
During his tenure Cowley has been keen to give the left-leaning title a more neutral voice, opening up the title to leading voices within the Conservative party.