The online version of the Montreal Gazette is moving to a paid format, publisher and editor-in-chief Alan Allnutt announced Wednesday.
“To continue our investment in the quality and depth of our award-winning journalism and offer you the features and functions you want from our website, we believe we have to find new sources of revenue,” Allnutt wrote in an article published to the paper’s site.
The paid format begins immediately.
The Times Colonist in Victoria, B.C., also moved to the same format.
In his story, Allnut said the New York Times and other British and American publications have shifted to the “paid content” model for their online products.
He argues that many papers have begun asking readers to pay for unlimited access to all of their online content.
“We at The Gazette have decided to follow suit starting today,” Allnutt wrote.
20 free stories
The newspaper quickly points out that some content will remain accessible without payment.
For instance, online readers will have access to 20 online articles for free per month.
These stories will be considered, “premium content”.
Breaking news will also be available without payment.
Those who subscribe to the printed version of the Gazette will have free access to the site.
Those who do not subscribe to the newspaper must pay $6.95 per month or $69.95 per year for unlimited online access.
“˜Good-bye Gazette’
Reaction to the news on the article’s comment section was largely unsupportive.
“Bahahaha. Good luck on this idea. Have you not noticed the average consumer is looking for ways to stretch their budget?” wrote a user named “greenshoots”.
“There are far too many alternatives online for getting local news for you to demand this option.”
“What an “˜ALL NUTTS’ idea. Goodbye Gazette, and hello to all free news on the net,” wrote user “jcs80″.
“When I get my notice, I will move on to other places to get my news. It is not like you are the only game in town. I can see the Gazette going down the tubes if this keeps up,” wrote “Badbob2″.
Others expressed displeasure with having to sign in – indicating fears that doing so would give advertisers greater access to their personal information.
Allnutt said Montrealgazette.com is visited by nearly 1 million unique visitors across the continent every month, and he believes many news readers will pay for online journalism- just as the print reader has been doing for years.
Free on the wires
One issue that was not addressed in Allnutt’s announcement was the availability of Gazette stories on Postmedia News, an online wire service.
Publications that subscribe to Postmedia News have access and publication rights to the stories on the wire service.
It means that other online publications have access to Montreal Gazette stories and can publish them at no charge to online readers.
In an interview with the Globe and Mail on Wednesday, Postmedia chief executive officer Paul Godfrey said the move is a pilot project that is being considered for all of its newspaper websites.
“This is an opportunity, trying it at two ends of the country, and to test the market with a couple of models to see if the public value the content to the degree of what we think it’s worth,” Godfrey said.
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