Readers: Paywalls are not the answer

Paywalls have become the hot thing in newspapers over the past three years.

More than a third of the country’s dailies have walled off their content, including the top 10 papers in terms of print circulation.

But while papers seem convinced that paywalls are the way to balance out revenues lost to declining ad sales over the past decade, buyers aren’t as sure.

That’s according to a recent survey by Media Life asking readers to weigh in on the future of newspapers.

Asked whether paywalls are the right solutionan for papers, the largest share of readers, 40 percent, chose this answer: “No. People have become used to getting this information for free, and they are bristling at suddenly being made to pay. A backlash will come.”

Their reasoning: Newspapers waited too long to institute the paywalls, long after readers had come to expect their online content for free.

Already a handful of papers, including the San Francisco Chronicle, have rolled back their paywalls after disappointing results.

“Paywalls are too late, like changing the locks on a barn after the livestock has wandered off,” wrote one reader. “New reader habits have formed, and they don’t include newspapers. If an acute need develops for local information, it will be an online solution that provides it, not a newspaper or its online residue.”

Opined another: “Most people will not pay for online content. Revenue must come from ad sales. The smart publications will generate ad revenue from their free online content in unique ways, while offering readers a better digital experience overall.”

Only 25 percent of readers said paywalls were a good idea.

In the view of readers, paywalls, and the debate over them, reflect a deeper problem in the newspaper industry, and that was the lack of forward thinking when ad revenue began tumbling nearly a decade ago.

Asked what the single biggest driving factor in the recent woes for newspapers is, the largest share, 40 percent, blamed papers’ inability to adapt to the changing marketplace.

“Most of the circulation losses over the past 10-15 years have been self-inflicted,” noted one reader.

“They need to realize things are changing. Too many in newspapers are just holding on for retirement. New and young blood is needed,” wrote another.

Interestingly, only 18 percent said the rise of online was the reason for newspapers’ woes, while another 17 percent blamed competition from better, cheaper alternatives.

Media Life also asked readers to predict newspapers’ likely next moves as they try to protect themselves.

The largest share of readers, 54 percent, predicted that they will beef up online operations and phase out print over time, while 49 percent thought they could go from six or seven days to three days of print publication per week. (Readers were allowed to choose more than one answer.)

Thirty-five percent predicted that print would continue as usual but online content would go behind a paywall.

Finally, readers were asked how many years before newspapers go entirely online. Answers to this question were varied, but not one reader chose fewer than five years.

The most, 20 percent, picked 10 years, while seven years received 17 percent of the vote and five years got 15 percent.

And 26 percent of readers said it will never happen.

Tags: media life surveys, newspaper advertising, newspaper paywalls, newspapers, paywalls, surveys