Torygraph to put up metered paywall

Jol44Jol44 Posts: 21,048
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The Daily Telegraph is going to charge for access to its website, becoming the first British general interest newspaper to employ the metered paywall model.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/greenslade/2013/mar/26/telegraph-paywall

I wonder if this will have any political impact in any way.

I do feel a bit sad about it though as it is good to have ease of access to news and opinions from a wide variety of sources. In my opinion the Telegraph generally provides a pretty comprehensive, right leaning, Tory supporting source.
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  • tghe-retfordtghe-retford Posts: 26,449
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    Excellent. They can join The Times in Internet obscurity as is the case when paywalls are introduced on newspaper websites. I'm sure Rupert Murdoch is smiling from ear to ear.
  • NosediveNosedive Posts: 6,600
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    It had to happen before too long. Murdock's already done it with The Times.
  • barky99barky99 Posts: 3,921
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    good .. wouldn't want to read it anyway
  • TomWhittonTomWhitton Posts: 1,465
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    Good. There's less chance of me reading Brendan O'Neill's rancid garbage now.
  • redtuxredtux Posts: 1,241
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    Wish the Heil would follow suit
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 1,645
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    Pity. I don't vote Tory but I do like to read their finance and economics pages.
  • deptfordbakerdeptfordbaker Posts: 22,368
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    Maybe they will all go behind that pay wall until eventually only the Daily Mail is left and we will get all our news from there :D
  • silentNatesilentNate Posts: 84,079
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    The Telegraph online was always pretty good but this comes as no surprise :(
  • TelevisionUserTelevisionUser Posts: 41,404
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    I am surprised by this news especially since they've probably benefited from new readers who've decided not to buy into the Murdoch paywall operation.

    That 20 article limit per month limit is relatively small (less than one article a day) and the likely beneficiaries of this new Telegraph paywall will probably be the Daily Mail and Independent websites.
  • thenetworkbabethenetworkbabe Posts: 45,572
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    I am surprised by this news especially since they've probably benefited from new readers who've decided not to buy into the Murdoch paywall operation.

    That 20 article limit per month limit is relatively small (less than one article a day) and the likely beneficiaries of this new Telegraph paywall will probably be the Daily Mail and Independent websites.

    One of the major US newspapers used to do this (Washington Post or New York Times??) but seems to have stopped. Not sure how they can do it. if you delete the cookies or use a different machine how do they know? Your IP address will change everytime you are reconnected on a home broadband connection.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 9,720
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    I find it quite amusing when people who used to hand over £1.20 a day (£2,628 per year) for their copy of The Daily Telegraph baulk at the idea of paying 33p a day (£120 per year) for the same thing in a far more accessible format.
    Excellent. They can join The Times in Internet obscurity as is the case when paywalls are introduced on newspaper websites.

    The goal for news operations is to make money, not be internet celebrities.
  • swingalegswingaleg Posts: 102,982
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    Meilie wrote: »
    I find it quite amusing when people who used to hand over £1.20 a day (£2,628 per year) for their copy of The Daily Telegraph

    dubious maths there !
  • PrestonAlPrestonAl Posts: 10,342
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    Meilie wrote: »
    I find it quite amusing when people who used to hand over £1.20 a day (£2,628 per year) for their copy of The Daily Telegraph baulk at the idea of paying 33p a day (£120 per year) for the same thing in a far more accessible format.



    The goal for news operations is to make money, not be internet celebrities.

    Dubious, that's downright Ed Balls math right there!
  • tghe-retfordtghe-retford Posts: 26,449
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    Meilie wrote: »
    The goal for news operations is to make money, not be internet celebrities.
    And I await the inevitable announcement of further financial losses that I'll take no pleasure from.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 9,720
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    swingaleg wrote: »
    dubious maths there !

    Yeah. £374.40 per year. Well that is still 200% more than the online version.
  • AdsAds Posts: 37,037
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    Its a shame as its a good website, lots of good content. The blogs section is thriving at the moment, be interesting to see if the currently numerous comments dry up.
  • hustedhusted Posts: 5,287
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    People will be allowed to read 20 articles a month. More than enough.
  • swingalegswingaleg Posts: 102,982
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    I guess it's inevitable that all newspapers will end up as subscription internet sites eventually.............the cost of producing, printing and distributing a physical newspaper can't be economic compared to internet publishing ?
  • deptfordbakerdeptfordbaker Posts: 22,368
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    Guardian wrote:

    People will be allowed to read just 20 articles a month on the paper's site for free. If they wish to read more then they will be able to choose between two digital subscription pages:

    This metered model is favoured by newspapers across the US - notably at the New York Times - and Canada. It is also employed in Britain by the Financial Times, but the Telegraph becomes the first general newspaper in the UK to introduce it.

    By contrast, The Times and Sunday Times site is protected by a full paywall, restricting all access to unless users pay for a subscription.

    Suits me, I probably don't read more than 20 a month anyway.
  • TardisSteveTardisSteve Posts: 8,077
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    well won't be visiting that website again
  • tghe-retfordtghe-retford Posts: 26,449
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    swingaleg wrote: »
    I guess it's inevitable that all newspapers will end up as subscription internet sites eventually.............the cost of producing, printing and distributing a physical newspaper can't be economic compared to internet publishing ?
    And meanwhile, the BBC, ITV, maybe Sky unless Murdoch and his News Corp 39.1% share persuade otherwise will still have articles available free at the point of use. Even the Mail is likely to stay free to use, although I would not associate that website with the word "news". You also have social networking websites, discussion forums, international news organisations, TV channels, radio bulletins, blogs, free newspapers and other sources of information.

    It's a free market capitalist country, if companies want to commit commercial suicide, let them.
  • northantsgirlnorthantsgirl Posts: 4,663
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    Oh blast, that will make it more difficult to view the Matt cartoon.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 1,645
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    Oh blast, that will make it more difficult to view the Matt cartoon.

    That's a lot of lurking about in the newsagents without paying you're going to have to do. :)
  • swingalegswingaleg Posts: 102,982
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    And meanwhile, the BBC, ITV, maybe Sky unless Murdoch and his News Corp 39.1% share persuade otherwise will still have articles available free at the point of use. Even the Mail is likely to stay free to use, although I would not associate that website with the word "news". You also have social networking websites, discussion forums, international news organisations, TV channels, radio bulletins, blogs, free newspapers and other sources of information.

    It's a free market capitalist country, if companies want to commit commercial suicide, let them.

    The newspapers will probably move away from 'news' and more into expert analysis and commentary as their raison d'etre...........

    You could say that 24 hour news channels have already made newspapers redundant as purveyors of 'news'
  • TelevisionUserTelevisionUser Posts: 41,404
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    Meilie wrote: »
    I find it quite amusing when people who used to hand over £1.20 a day (£2,628 per year) for their copy of The Daily Telegraph baulk at the idea of paying 33p a day (£120 per year) for the same thing in a far more accessible format.

    The goal for news operations is to make money, not be internet celebrities.
    And I await the inevitable announcement of further financial losses that I'll take no pleasure from.

    Although the Telegraph is an ego project of the billionaire Barclay brothers, it actually turns in a £50 million+ annual profit which is surprising these days: http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2012/apr/15/telegraph-times-profit

    That makes it all the more surprising that they are considering going behind a paywall because three things will happen:
    1. The 1 million+ daily browsers figure will crash and there will probably be only a few tens of thousands of dedicated online Telegraph subscribers;
    2. Advertisers will flock off from the online Telegraph in response to the loss of eyeballs and the likely effect will be a noticeable net loss in online advertising revenue;
    3. In terms of online newspaper reading, the Telegraph is in third place behind the Mail and Guardian but that situation will change the moment a paywall is introduced. The net effect will be to plunge the online edition of the Telegraph into internet obscurity.
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