The demise of the newspaper has garnered a lot of media coverage these past few months. And all over the US, the heart of the world’s current economic crisis, companies are tightening their belts. Many newspapers, once thought to be essential media, are thought to be on the verge of collapse, as internet advertising models have been unsuccessful, and the failure of a paid web content model.
But is the idea of paid web content really so terrible?
Think for a minute. When’s the last time you paid for any sort of media content? Was it when you flicked on your cable to watch The Daily Show last night? Or perhaps it was this morning when you read Guess How Much I Love You to your little girl before leaving for work? As you’ve probably realized, paid content is not a new idea – every day we pay for some piece of media content, and the money we spend trickles down to those generating the content. Most people take this for granted; after all, when’s the last time you heard a woman complain about paying for a book at the local Barnes and Noble?
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Enter the internet. When newspapers first started publishing online, many tried a paid web content model and found it very quickly floundered. And now, with the proliferation of blogs and would-be journalists online, it seems almost suicidal to re-introduce the idea.
What is Paid Web Content Good For?
Believe it or not, we get what we pay for. This is as true on the internet as anywhere else – perhaps more so. A paid web content model generates revenue for the company producing it, and such revenue allows said company to hire writers, researchers, and interns possessing a certain skill set. The less revenue produced, the lower the quality of staff – and the lower the quality of staff, the lower the quality of the content produced.
Like many things, the issue of paid web content really comes down to chocolate. We’ll willingly pay to eat the good stuff, like Lindt and Valrhona, but Hershey’s kisses? Maybe we’ll pay for them if they’re on sale, or pinch a few from the candy bowl at work.
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So, unsurprisingly, the content we should pay for – should be happy to pay for, even – is content that matters. This can already be seen in some fields – academic journals, like The British Journal of Pharmacology, and, of course, Nature, are all paid subscription markets. Why? Because, in research and academia, quality of content is important!
Where else is quality of content important? It’s a very subjective issue. But one place many pundits agree paid web content could be very important is news coverage – which brings us back to newspapers. Unconvinced? Compare the quality of original content in free newspapers (Hershey’s kisses), available in most big cities, to the quality of content in The New York Times (Valrhona). Now compare the quality of original content in The New York Times five years ago to the original content this year. Perhaps the quality of reporting in The New York Times has remained the same, but the quantity of original content available online has decreased. (Sadly, more users appear to be interested in the paid crossword content offered by the Times than its news coverage.)
Ways to Access Paid Web Content for Less
So you’re on board with paid web content – but you just can’t afford it? Most paid web content can be had for less if you have the time to seek it out. Community libraries, university libraries, and student centers often have subscriptions to paid content services, such as the Oxford English Dictionary or the Web of Science database. Many of these services let users log in from home – check your library or student center’s website for more details. If you’re not sure about what services are available to you, talk to your librarian or student advisor. Some institutions also share resources with sister libraries and centers, so you may be able to access more paid content services through your institution’s network.
By Peta Andersen
May 19, 2009
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photo credit: John Siebert