Projo’s Sister Paper is Going to a Pay Model for Online, When is Providence?
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
During the past three decades the Providence Journal’s weekday print circulation has been cut in half and this past year dropped another 10%. According to the Audit Bureau of Circulations - the Providence Journal dropped below 100,000 to just 96,595 per day (a number that includes free copies and newspapers in schools). In 1990, the Providence Journal's circulation was 203,647.
Paywall Attempts
Memos circulated at the Providence Journal in the past couple of months claim the Projo.com site will go behind some form of a paywall in 2011. Previous effort in the United States to transform open digital news sites into a pay-model have often proved fruitless. Newsday, the Long Island newspaper, launched a paywall model. The paper that enjoyed circulation of 481,000 in 2004, but is now down to 314,000 as of September of 2010.
To combat the lose of circulation, Newsday launched a paywall of $5 a week or $260 a year, for unlimited access to newsday.com. After 3 months, only 35 consumers had signed up for the service.
Boston Going Pay Too
The projo is not the region's only. Early this fall, the Boston Globe announced they would create a bifurcated digital strategy that created a pay model for the Boston Globe's online content and leave the "softer" content free to users. According to the industry's venable trade publication, Editor & Publisher, the Globe:
Whereas Boston.com will continue to offer breaking news, sports, and weather from various sources, along with classified advertising, social networking, and information about travel, restaurants and entertainment, BostonGlobe.com will be designed to mirror the experience of reading the paper’s print edition. It will contain all the reports from the day’s paper as well as exclusive reports, in-depth news, analysis, commentary, photos and graphics, plus video and interactive features.
Providence When?
Dallas-based Belo's decision to put the projo.com behind a paywall will be a challenge for the company. According to the Providence Phoenix, a Howard Sutton e-mail sent to employees read, "Projo.com will remain a free Web site that emphasizes most of the content that our online audiences value highly. Meanwhile, we will be more discriminating and deliberate in how we disseminate our premium newspaper content."
What, when and how the projo.com transforms from an open-news content site to a restricted paywall is an unknown. The movement by the Dallas News next month may be a good indication of the Belo-model.
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Comments:
ed curtis
8:25am on Tuesday, November 16, 2010
During the past three decades the Providence Journal’s weekday print circulation has been cut in half and this past year dropped another 10%. According to the Audit Bureau of Circulations - the Providence Journal dropped below 100,000 to just 96,595 per day (a number that includes free copies and newspapers in schools). In 1990, the Providence Journal's circulation was 203,647
~ Pravda Journal - Join the other left-wing liberal newspapers into oblivion.
Your demise will not be a loss to the real world.
Walt Barrett
8:34am on Tuesday, November 16, 2010
I think that it would be a mistake for Projo to charge for their Internet services. In these difficult times they could lose too much traffic from their web site. The internet advertising revenue is pretty good these days, and in order to make money you need strong traffic. Also, a web site is much less expensive to manage and operate as compared to a newspaper. It's really a shame, but personally I do not expect to see many print newspapers around in the near future.
Walt Barrett President
A to Z Global Marketing Inc.
Nick Patriarca
8:40am on Tuesday, November 16, 2010
No way would I pay for on line Projo .
I cancelled my subsciption several years ago
when The Projo discontinued local coverages,
and continued to incrtease liberal slanted coverage .
Add to that a low rent sports coverage and it's no wonder their sales are decreasing .
Govstench -RI
10:19am on Tuesday, November 16, 2010
ProJo is outdated and their circulation will continue to decline. The paper is chuck full of ads and no local news coverage. When they started closing their local news bureaus, the end was near.
The website is slow and not that great. Difficult to blog on and if they do pay it up, see ya!
Stick a fork in it......their done!
CHERYL BRESSAN
10:34am on Tuesday, November 16, 2010
They've become nothing more than another Liberal rag. Would I pay to read about their slant on things? NO WAY! Let them go the way of all things Liberal - Pretty sad when I get better info from the National Inquirer!
Richard N. Silva
11:11am on Tuesday, November 16, 2010
I haven't purchased the Projo since they abandoned their local coverage. One can't find anything in the rag about their community and just this past week I found out that Alisha Pina will no longer be covering the E. Prov. City Council meetings but is being reassigned to Providence.
JOHN VELLUCCI
3:46pm on Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Forget about it. We still got TV. Oops, we pay for that too. I guess I'll play more golf at Goddard Park
Max Diesel
8:19pm on Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Same here. Canceled when they stopped local coverage. The funny part is I still see the same local guy at the same town meetings but nothing ever makes into the rag or on-line. What are they paying this guy to do. Certainly not to write stories. Once in a great while I see his name on a statewide story and that's it. I use to look forward to cracking open the Journal with the morning coffee. Go figure.