Newspapers are in for a “wild ride” as Australia prepares to become the first country in the world to have its four main newspaper sites behind paywalls.
Fairfax’s decision to impose an as yet unspecified pay structure around The Age andSydney Morning Herald sites will have fallout for advertisers, but experts are unsure as to what it will be.
David McKnight, from the University of New South Wales Journalism and Media Research Centre, said it will be a “wild ride” for the papers, readers and advertisers.
He told B&T: “It’s being played out in a confined little laboratory, it’s a scientist’s delight as you’ve got all the factors controlled. People will still go to other free media like the ABC, but it will be a very interesting experiment to see if it works.”
He warned in the future papers will not be printed every day, whilst digital output the major news driver. Even with this, he conceded “I still can’t see where the revenues will come from”.
But, Professor Matthew Ricketson, of the University of Canberra, who sat on the independent media inquiry, said news has a more fundamental problem to deal with, an increasing lack of compatibility with advertising, especially online.
He said: “The internet allows advertisers to be more targeted. But, if there’s a plane crash, you don’t run an advert for Qantas next to it, even though targeted advertising would suggest matching what customers are looking at and what they would be interested in.
“Matching advertising with news is not necessarily easy to do any more, so the internet is forcing this unbundling of journalism and advertising which has been so neatly held together for the last hundred years.”
However, Peter Grenfell, chief innovation officer for MEC, said the move may not put advertisers off, but it would depend on whether they are looking for a more engaged audience or a wider reach.
He added the properly audited numbers from a paywall will also be an attractive proposition: “The industry as a whole is looking to crack down on dubious number claims, so I think if they’re doing everything by the book that’s only going to benefit them.
“If they are successful it becomes a call to action to the rest of the industry to follow suit.”
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