In his book Free, Chris Anderson argues that "sooner or later every company is going to have to figure out how to use Free or compete with Free, one way or another." Many traditional print news outlets like The New York Times and the Los Angeles Times are two companies that this argument directly applies to. Newspapers are dramatically struggling to find ways to convert their outdated business model to a digital one that will allow them to bring in revenue. In the past, ad sales on their pages generated their profit, but now that there are free ways to advertise with websites like Craigslist, newspapers need to look elsewhere to make money. This is a prime example of why they need to learn how to use, as Anderson calls it, "Free."
One way that newspapers attempt to cope with the transition from print to digital is by instituting pay walls requiring online readers to pay for a monthy subscription after they read a predetermined number of articles. This begs the question of whether or not readers will comply with this new model when there are so many other means of obtaining the same information for free.
Though papers like The New York Times and the Los Angeles Times still see a relatively high number of subscribers and have successfully convinced online readers to pay for content, this business model is not a viable one going forward for these companies. Eventually, they will need to concoct some other ways to generate profit as consumers are less and less willing to pay for news. Generally, people still willing to pay for a newspaper subscription are older. Younger generations of news-seekers turn to other media outlets for information. Therefore, instituting pay walls will typically not work for them.
Many companies face difficulties determining ways to generate revenue. A perfect recent example is that of Facebook. Their stock has already dropped substantially in value because it has yet to prove itself as more than just an internet fad like Myspace, and show that it is a viable business model. Clearly, in this modern age of technology where so much information is readily available at no cost, the only way to stay afloat is to find ways to incur profit at no cost to the consumer. Sounds like a conundrum. Newspapers need to put on their creative thinking caps to transition to a business model that excludes pay walls.
One way that newspapers attempt to cope with the transition from print to digital is by instituting pay walls requiring online readers to pay for a monthy subscription after they read a predetermined number of articles. This begs the question of whether or not readers will comply with this new model when there are so many other means of obtaining the same information for free.
Though papers like The New York Times and the Los Angeles Times still see a relatively high number of subscribers and have successfully convinced online readers to pay for content, this business model is not a viable one going forward for these companies. Eventually, they will need to concoct some other ways to generate profit as consumers are less and less willing to pay for news. Generally, people still willing to pay for a newspaper subscription are older. Younger generations of news-seekers turn to other media outlets for information. Therefore, instituting pay walls will typically not work for them.
Many companies face difficulties determining ways to generate revenue. A perfect recent example is that of Facebook. Their stock has already dropped substantially in value because it has yet to prove itself as more than just an internet fad like Myspace, and show that it is a viable business model. Clearly, in this modern age of technology where so much information is readily available at no cost, the only way to stay afloat is to find ways to incur profit at no cost to the consumer. Sounds like a conundrum. Newspapers need to put on their creative thinking caps to transition to a business model that excludes pay walls.
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