46% of smaller newspapers have paid content, larger papers build apps

"46% of Smaller Newspapers Have Paid Content, Larger Papers Build Apps," Media Buyer Planner, June 7, 2011.

While larger U.S. dailies have been slower to embrace the concept of charging for online news content, smaller newspapers have steadily introduced paid subscription models.

Nearly half the publishers of small dailies have begun charging for online content, according to a survey from the Reynolds Journalism Institue / University of Missouri, "The Push to Paid: Attitudes of Publishers towards Paid Content." The study found that more than 46% of publishers of daily newspapers under 25,000 circulation now require payment for at least some of their online content. Among newspapers with greater than 25,000 circulation, 24% now charge. Of the papers that don’t now charge, 35% have plans to while about half have not ruled out charging at some point. Only 15% of publishers said they had no plans to charge.

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